


The Big Bad Wolf

by wolfish



Series: Of war and love (She-Ra and the Princesses of Power) [1]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Multi, Trigger warning: hints at suicide and self harm, fluffy catradora, oh and catra sings at some point, there will be a lot of catradora here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-27
Updated: 2021-02-06
Packaged: 2021-03-11 10:42:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 14
Words: 37,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28350084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wolfish/pseuds/wolfish
Summary: Set after season 5. I consider Noelle’s fanfiction (Don’t Go by Annacharlier) canon so you’ll read references to it now and then.There were four person, there, and they were holding Perfuma, Mermista, Frosta and Glimmer hostage. The closer one, a girl with grey wolf ears and tail, pale skin, white hair and scary pale-yellow eyes, was holding Glimmer by her hair and aiming a dagger at her throat. What made her shiver were their clothes: they were wearing the Horde’s uniforms.“Hello everyone” the wolf-girl said out loud so that they could hear her. Her voice was as cold as ice, it sent a shiver down her spine. “I suggest you stay still, She-Ra. And you too, Catra.”
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra), Entrapta/Hordak (She-Ra), Perfuma/Scorpia (She-Ra)
Series: Of war and love (She-Ra and the Princesses of Power) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2114430
Comments: 23
Kudos: 67





	1. Burning Embers

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This is my first She-Ra fanfiction so I hope I didn’t make a total mess, even because English is not my first language so there might be some errors around :/ I hope not but, if it’s so, I’m sorry! Feel free to correct me if you want! :)  
> Anyway, I hope you’ll enjoy reading this story <3

Bright Moon was in uproar. The princesses were running around like snowflakes during a blizzard, and so were the guards and all the servants. It had been like that since the sun came up. Rumors, agitation, excited screams. But not for them.

Catra snuggled in, purring slightly. Adora’s warmth behind her back was simply wonderful. She could stay curled up in that stupid bed all day long. They almost did, actually. Just the two of them, hugging, whispering, kissing. She never thought she could feel so… quiet. Peaceful. Even with that turmoil just outside the door. 

Adora had fallen asleep again. Catra turned, the horrible purple blankets tangled around her legs. Not that she cared. Now she was facing the person that she loved more than anything else in the whole universe. She reached out and gave the lightest touch to her face, feeling that soft, silky skin under her fingers. She couldn’t help but smirk when Adora furrowed her brows and opened her bright bluebell eyes, trying to focus on her. 

“Hey.”   
Adora smiled back at her.

“Hi” she murmured. Then Catra was dragged closer and she found herself wrapped by Adora’s arms. They both laughed softly. 

“Don’t tell me it’s time…” Adora moaned. Catra tried to distance a little bit but Adora didn’t let her go. 

“It actually is, I guess. I heard Sparkles squeaking orders like a real tyrant, outside.”

Adora snorted.

“I bet she hasn’t chosen what to wear yet.”

“Have you?”

“Nope.”

They burst out into laughter. Then Adora asked: “What about you?”

Catra slipped away from her clasp and stood up. Her back was sore, but she still felt warm and relaxed. 

“Suit?”

“Again?”

Catra shot her a challenging glance.

“Let’s switch then. I’ll wear a dress and you will wear a suit.”

Adora raised a brow and she sat up.

“I’m in.” Then she gave her that stupid smug smile of hers. “I was dying to see you in a dress.”

Catra crossed her arms. 

“Oh, really? I thought you were dying to see me naked.”

Adora became as red as the shirt she stole her to sleep and gasped.

“I… I mean…”

Catra burst out laughing. 

“You’re such a dummy! Come on, let’s get ready before that Sparkles breaks in and starts yelling at us.”

  


  


  


  


Adora looked around, sucking in the beauty that the gardens of Bright Moon had just become. There were beautiful, luminescent flowers illuminating the night, ice crystals floating everywhere like tiny lanterns, and… oh, yes! Tons of food! She grabbed Catra’s hand and dragged her to the tables, stole a tray and filled it with everything she could grab. Catra looked at her like she was an idiot. 

“You know that none is gonna steal that food from you, right?”

Adora gave her the most serious of her looks. 

“Better be prepared.” 

Catra laughed hard, and Adora felt her heart flicker as a smile curved her lips upwards. She had recently found out that there was one thing that she loved more than anything else: make Catra laugh. She looked so relaxed, so happy. She took a moment to admire her looks. Her hair was growing, but was still short. She had picked a black dress, crossed under her neck, long to her ankles, with scoop back. She was gorgeous. 

Catra stole one of the mini-buns on her tray, and she glared at her. 

“Thief.”

“Idiot.”

Adora was starting to eat when Glimmer appeared in front of them. She looked beautiful in her purple, long dress. 

“You finally showed up!” she said in a scolding tone. Adora sneered at her.

“We were… busy. Sorry.”

“Relax, Sparkles, the party is just great. Where’s the birthday boy?”

“I don’t know!” she yelled, making everyone look at her worryingly. She covered her face with her hands and took a deep breath. Adora shared a glance with Catra, noticing her flat ears, then she handed her the tray and put her hands on Glimmer’s tensed shoulders. 

“Glimmer, relax, I’m sure Bow’s coming.”

“I know, I know…” Glimmer stepped back. She looked still stressed out, but a bit calmer. “I’m sorry, I’ve been up all night to organize this party, and then worked all day…”   
Adora felt a stab of guilt pierce her heart. She should have been there for her friend. 

“I’m sorry I didn’t help you. I thought that Perfuma and the others would be enough for a birthday party...”

Glimmer’s eyes met hers, and the disappointment she saw in them hurt her. 

“Oh, they were great. They did everything, even Entrapta helped me.” The silent accusation that Glimmer’s stare implied killed her. Adora stepped back, bumping against the table. 

“I’m sorry, Glimmer. Really. I didn’t think…”

“He’s your friend too, Adora. I just thought you’d care enough to help organize his birthday party.” Her cold voice was like a whip on her face. 

“You’re overreacting, Sparkles! It’s just a party!” Catra intervened, but Glimmer glowered at her, surprising even her, apparently. 

“Shut up, Catra, you didn’t even know that today is his birthday!”

Scorpia was coming closer in the meantime. 

“Hey, girls…”

Catra snorted. 

“Really, Sparkles? When’s  my birthday?”

Glimmer stammered on her words. 

“I… this has nothing to do…”

“Girls…”

“Really? I thought I was a member of your stupid Best Friends Squad, but you didn’t even bother asking me when I was born. Do you even know how old I am?”

“We’re talking about Bow, not about you!”

“Catra, Glimmer…”

Adora put herself between Catra and Glimmer. 

“Stop it! Why are you even fighting? Catra knew about Bow’s birthday, Glimmer, she was just kidding yesterday!”

Glimmer gave her a glare.

“And how would she know without asking?”

Catra flashed a smug smirk. 

“I used to study my enemies when I was in the Horde, of course.”

“SURPRISE!” The general shout made them freeze and turn. Escorted by his fathers, Bow was standing still, a confused, tensed smile on his face. 

He slowly raised a hand. 

“Hi…” he said, and then there was silence. Adora took Glimmer’s furious glance before that the Queen would leave her with Catra and Scorpia to welcome Bow. 

She turned to meet her girlfriend’s heterochromatic eyes. 

“Go” Catra said with a slight smile. Adora felt the love for her like an explosion in her chest. She gave her a quick kiss and darted to join Bow and Glimmer.

She jumped on Bow, hugging him tight and screaming “HAPPY BIRTHDAY” in his ears. He laughed and held her. 

“Thank you! Guys, you shouldn’t have…”

“Don’t look at me, Glimmer organized everything, I’m here for the food” Adora said laughing, gaining a surprised glance from the queen. 

“Yeah, Sparkles is great at giving orders. Almost as much as Hordak.”

Adora watched Glimmer look at Catra with a mix of surprise and irritation. 

“If it was meant to be a compliment, it isn’t exactly how you do that.”

Catra simply sneered, and that somehow was enough to bring the shadow of a smile on Glimmer’s face, much to Adora’s relief. 

  


  


  


They were all there, dancing, chatting, eating. So exposed. So vulnerable. 

She sneered in the shadows, raising a hand and motioning to her underlings to move. It was time to attack. 


	2. The first bite

The party was fun, after all. The food was acceptable, Sparkles had calmed down and was dancing with Arrow Boy (why they were uselessly trying to keep their relationship secret was a mystery to everyone), and she was dancing with Adora, once again. With much less hatred, this time. It was a slow one, and she was leaning her chin over Adora’s shoulder while they were gently swaying. 

“I might get used to this” she confessed, her heart pounding. She was still terrified by appearing weak, by showing and expressing her feelings, but she was trying hard to keep doing it. She knew she was healing, she could feel it. It was a slow, hard process, but Adora was holding her hand all along that steep walk. She also knew Adora needed that too, even if she seemed not to know it. Shadow Weaver didn’t damage only her. But she didn’t know how to make her fully realize it without hurting her, and hurting Adora was the last thing she wanted. 

“Do it, because I’m not letting you go.”

They looked in each other's eyes, smiling. Catra could feel a soft knot of emotion pushing against her throat. She closed her eyes and kissed those soft lips, forgetting the world.

Adora broke the kiss when a high whistle came from the speakers Entrapta had built. Catra hissed, and she was about to cover her ears when Adora did it for her. The pain decreased immediately, and she managed to look at her in grateful surprise while she gazed around to find the problem. A second later, Entrapta bumped with her hair against one of the speakers and the horrible sound stopped. 

“Everything’s under control!”

Adora removed her hands, or she tried, because Catra held them in place, purring in the pleasing feeling of her touch. Her girlfriend turned to face her with surprise in her light-blue eyes, then smiled, then kissed her again, stroking the back of her ears. Catra felt in paradise. 

  


  


  


  


  


She’d always known that Catra’s ears were soft and velvety, but she never tried to touch them when they were younger. It was a touch way too intimate, and she was sure that Catra would never allow her to do it. But now… Oh, she loved to touch them. And Catra loved when she did, so she did it every time she could. 

She stopped when she saw Scorpia climb the few wooden steps and go on stage. 

“What is she doing?”

Catra opened her eyes and focused on Scorpia. 

“Oh, she likes to sing. She’s good, actually, but she tormented me with her stupid songs in the Fright Zone.”

Adora looked back at her. 

“I think we never sang in our life” she considered, a line forming between her brows. 

“This is a good reason not to start now.”

Adora laughed. 

“You’re probably right.”

Scorpia started slow and timid, but then, encouraged by her friends, she gained confidence and her voice sounded stronger. She was really good. Adora wondered how her voice would sound if she tried. Probably croaky and off-key. But she was curious now, so in her mind she noted to try, once she was alone.

She was also curious about Catra. She was pretty sure that she would be a great singer, if she only tried. Her voice was so unique, capable of going from the lower notes to the higher ones. 

“You should try” she said, and Catra took a second to understand what she was talking about. 

“No way. Get it out of your head.”

“Not in front of everyone! When we’re alone.”

“No. Way. Adora.” she marked.

“Why? I can try, too. It could be fun. You could make fun of me” she tried to convince her with a smirk, but Catra shook her head. 

“You would cheat.”

“Me?!”

“Yeah. You could transform into She-Ra, I’m pretty sure you could sing perfectly then.”

Alright, that was a possibility. 

“Maybe, but I wouldn’t.”

Catra stared at her for a few moments, looking dubious. She opened her mouth, and was about to speak when an explosion turned the world upside down. 

Adora found herself laying on the ground, dizzy, with a weight on her body. She opened her eyes, grunted at the doubled sight, her ears ringing. 

Catra , she thought. But there she was, over her, protecting her with her own body. She felt pure dread for a moment, but Catra shook her head, dazed by the loud explosion. 

“Are you okay?”

Her own voice sounded so distant. Catra shook her head once again, her face contorted by pain. 

“What?” she yelled, but she could barely hear her.  Shit . 

Adora stood up, helping Catra to do the same. She trembled seeing the light burns on her back. She looked around. She thought that one of Entrapta’s machines had blown out, that she would find her friends just befuddled, with a few scratches and burns, maybe, nothing that She-Ra couldn’t heal. But what she saw froze her.

There were four person, there, and they were holding Perfuma, Mermista, Frosta and Glimmer hostage. The closer one, a girl with grey wolf ears and tail, pale skin, white hair and scary pale-yellow eyes, was holding Glimmer by her hair and aiming a dagger at her throat. What made her shiver were their clothes: they were wearing the Horde’s uniforms.

“Hello everyone” the wolf-girl said out loud so that they could hear her. Her voice was as cold as ice, it sent a shiver down her spine. “I suggest you stay still, She-Ra. And you too, Catra.”


	3. Extinguish the sparkle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading the previous chapters and for leaving a comment, I'm still anxious and I really needed them! I hope that you'll like this one, too <3

The situation was… bad. Scorpia was lying unconscious next to the stage, like Entrapta, Bow and his fathers. Sea Hawk was awake, but he seemed incapable of standing up. And the wolf-girl was threatening Glimmer with a very familiar kind of dagger. Catra couldn’t hear much, but by the smell she was sure that there were only four enemies, even though her eyes kept showing her eight of them. She didn’t have a chance to fight them, she could barely stand, her ears were tormenting her. And it made her so  angry . Melog appeared next to her, their evanescent fur red and flaming. 

“... and you too, Catra.”

She focused on the leader, who gasped at Melog’s appearance. Good. There was something familiar in her, maybe because she was from the Horde. She had probably seen her somewhere in the Fright Zone. 

One thing was sure: she was afraid, she could smell it. And it wasn’t hard to imagine why: she glanced at Adora, her furious, beautiful bluebell eyes piercing the enemies’ leader. Oh, she would definitely turn into She-Ra and kick their ass.

The wolf-girl tightened her grasp on Glimmer’s hair, making her moan for the pain, and pushed a bit more the tip of the dagger against her throat. Shit.

“You don’t want me to kill her, do you?”

Glimmer closed her eyes and tried to teleport, but she ended up screaming with weird, green electrical shots running all over her body. Catra shivered, feeling her heart skip a beat, her muscles frozen. It couldn’t be... 

Adora clenched her fists. 

“Trust me, you don’t want to make me angry. Let her go.”

The girl sneered, showing long, dangerous fangs. 

“Oh Adora, you’re so naive. And a terrible strategist.” Catra felt her hair stand on her back. That girl was scared, yeah, but she was also too much confident, like she’d already won that battle. 

“Don’t listen to her, turn into She-Ra now” Catra hissed, glancing at her girlfriend. Their eyes met for just a moment, but it was enough. Adora’s eyes became brighter, luminous as torches, and her body changed in the blink of an eye. Her sword looked like a burning star in her right hand. Melog disappeared and threw one of the speakers against the leader’s back; Catra’s smirked hearing her wail, even though she was quick to regain her balance without letting Glimmer go. Melog was close now, and Catra held on to their fur and they both vanished.

The other soldiers stepped back, but didn’t let the hostages go. They got distracted, though, and the princesses noticed. Perfuma was the first to react, growing a large moving plant that grabbed her attacker and immobilized the arm he was menacing her with using a stun-baton. But he, that looked a bit like a snake, slipped away from the plant’s grip and hit her with the stun-baton, making her fall. In the meantime, Frosta had frozen her soldier’s hoof and he was screaming, terrified. Sea Hawk had jumped on the other soldier and was fighting with her, sword against staff. Mermista was trying to use her powers to help him, but she looked dazzled.

Adora moved, walking like a mountain of power against the wolf-girl. Who kept smiling, though, and that scared Catra, who was now right next to her. She kicked her from Melog’s back, invisible, hitting her hip and the girl growled, searching for her. She was about to punch her to knock her out, her arm already stretched, when the soldier raised her ears and somehow looked at her, directly in her eyes, and ducked. Catra fell from Melog and rolled on the ground to break the fall.

“Oh, this was a terrible choice” the girl snarled. “NOW!” she yelled. Then she did something, a cruel smirk on her face. She shifted position, pressing the whole blade against Glimmer’s throat.

Catra was sure she would cut her throat right away, her position told her she was about to. Adora saw it too, because she raised her sword. Melog reacted to Catra’s emotion becoming huge and fire-red. But, instead, the soldier pressed her palm against the back of Glimmer’s neck. And Glimmer froze, eyes wide open, her body rigid and still like stone. Catra had just the time to start feeling terrorized, because that’s exactly what happened to her when Prime...

And then it happened in a moment.

Adora threw the sword with a furious cry. 

The other soldiers ran to their leader and touched her back. 

Glimmer, well, she sparkled. 

And then all of them disappeared.

And the sword hit nothing but the ground.

  


  


  


  


  


Adora watched the spot where Glimmer was just a second before. Her eyes. Gosh, she looked so scared…

She lost her She-Ra form. 

She didn’t protect her. She didn’t save her, and now they took her. Again.

She jumped when she felt a touch on her shoulder. She also noticed she was weeping. She dried her tears, turned and met Catra’s pained stare. She also felt Melog’s head bump gently against her clenched fist.

“We will find her.”

_Yes, but what if it’s too late?_ Catra seemed to read her thoughts. “If they wanted her dead, they’d have killed her.”

Adora felt new tears stream down her face. 

“They were Horde soldiers…”

Catra narrowed her eyes, and she realized that she was keeping her ears flat, in a weird way. 

“Can you hear me?”

Catra narrowed her eyes agan, looking at her mouth, then tilted her head. 

“Not really. I might have a concussion.”

Holy shit. Adora turned again into She-Ra and, before she could protest, she cupped her face with her hands and concentrated. It wasn’t hard to heal her, her eardrums and the burns and a few bruises. She also healed herself, because her back was killing her and her ears were still ringing. She still felt a ghost of that pain then, but she could move better. She caressed Catra’s face, more to reassure herself actually, to remember herself that she was there, with her, for her, and then rushed to help everyone else.

“Send a message to Micah, to Mystacor” she said to Perfuma while healing Bow’s bleeding head. “He has to come back.”

  


  


  


  


The den welcomed them with its usual wet, warm air. It was nothing but a large chamber underground, dug in stone and mud. There was one large metal table, metal boxes everywhere and four cots on the floor. It was dark until Tauro switched the light, and trembling, fuzzing lamps gifted them with their yellowish light. 

Wolfa dragged the prisoner to one of the cement pillars that prevented the ceiling from collapsing and tied her arms around it, behind her back. The queen glowered at her, even if it was clear that she was exhausted. 

“Don’t worry, Your Majesty. Your time hasn’t come yet.”

Glimmer was panting, she was sweating and her eyes looked out of focus.

“Why… Why are you doing this? What did you do to me?”

Wolfa repressed a sigh.

“You’re not here to make questions.”

“What for, then?”

She hesitated. She wanted to tell her, she really wanted to. But the wound on her back caused by that speaker was pulsing alarmingly, and Glimmer was too tired now, she wouldn’t listen properly.

“Rest, now. There will be time to speak.”

She left her there, facing nothing but a grey wall.


	4. The pack

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the nice comments, they really help me to keep posting this story! I hope you'll like this new chapter, too! :) Oh, happy new year! <3

Adora tried to breathe. It wasn’t that easy. She didn’t know who the enemy was, this time. She didn’t know what they wanted, nor why they took Glimmer. Probably because she was the queen. But that thing she did… she  _ controlled  _ Glimmer. How was that even possible? Only one…  _ asshole  _ had been capable of controlling people like that, but Glimmer’s eyes didn’t become neon-green, so it wasn’t Prime’s technology. But still. 

Bow cleared his throat, bringing her back to reality. She realized she was clenching her fists, sitting in the room with everybody staring at her in confusion.

“Adora…” Catra murmured. She blinked, her eyes were feeling dry. How long did she stare at nothing like an idiot? 

“Sorry. As I was saying, we need to find out who these people are.”

“Whoever they are, we’ll show them they messed with the wrong princesses” Frosta shouted slamming her hand against the table.

“They’re from the Horde, it’s quite clear” Mermista sighed. 

“The Horde doesn’t exist anymore” Adora replied. It was still weird to say it, even after three months. 

“You’re clearly wrong, Adora.”

_Right_ . Adora sighed and lowered her tensed shoulders. 

“Alright. Let’s say they’re from the Horde. Hordak is with us, Catra is one of us” she said glancing at her; she looked focused, her ears were standing high, the tip of her tail was slowly moving. “... like Scorpia, and the other Force Captains and Commanders too. Talking about Scorpia, where is she? She never missed a meeting…”

“When she woke up I told her about what happened and she said she needed something from her old stuff” Perfuma said. “I’m sure she’s coming.”

“I’m here, I’m sorry!” Scorpia rushed in at that precise moment, stumbling on her own foot and almost falling on Catra, who hissed and pushed her away.

“You’re heavy!”

“Sorry! I found it!”

Adora noticed in that moment the small object she was holding in her claw. A photograph. She recognized it immediately, even if it was tiny and distant. Catra grabbed it and looked at it with narrow eyes. 

“It’s her.”

“Her name is Wolfa” Scorpia said. That name told something to Adora but, even if she knew who it belonged to, she couldn’t associate the name with the face. The other princesses and Bow stood up and surrounded Catra to look at the picture. Catra left it on the table, and so Adora managed to see it, too. It was a group photo of all the cadets and soldiers. She remembered that day, that moment. Catra held her close, and next to her Lonnie was ruffling Kyle’s hair, and Rogelio stood straight as a die, just like her. She searched for the… for Wolfa, and easily found her between the other cadets. She looked younger, like all of them, but her hair was exactly the same, white as her eyebrows, the upper part tied up in a short ponytail and the lower part left free to fall around her neck in wild waves. And next to here she recognized the other attackers. The large and muscular boy with horns and hooves, dark brown skin and light-blue hair, the girl with the fire red hair and that scar on her face and the snake-boy, with his red eyes, the pale aquamarine skin and the ruffled yellow and green hair. They would look like perfect soldiers if only there weren’t cheeky grins on their face, as if one of them made a pun only they could understand. Adora noticed that there was another girl who was smiling like them. 

“...Tauro, Ophid and Kara” Scorpia was saying, pointing out the others. 

Adora touched the fifth girl’s face. 

“Who’s this?”

She met Scorpia’s stare. 

“You really don’t remember them?”

Adora simply stayed silent. She didn’t even remember Scorpia, before that they started fighting each other, but she thought it was better to keep that information for herself. She didn't want to hurt her. 

“Her name’s Amy” she sighed. “Seriously, Adora, did you ever talk to anyone else outside your team?”

“No, she didn't,” Catra said, starting to push everyone away. “Do you guys know what personal space is?”

“Scorpia, what do you know about them? Why do you think they attacked us?” Bow asked, gloomy, but his eyes were shining black diamonds made of determination and hope. Scorpia looked at the picture. 

“I don’t know, they were good kids… I mean, not different from any of us.”

“Amy wasn’t there, but she could have been wherever they’re hiding” Adora cut in. “We need to find that place, because that’s where they’re keeping Glimmer. Also… Entrapta…” She gave a nervous look at Catra before speaking to the princess. “Is there a possibility that they used a part of Prime’s technology to control Glimmer?”

Everyone froze in the room. 

“What?” Bow gulped. 

“Wolfa touched her neck and then she forced Glimmer to use her powers to teleport away the squadron.”

“I thought it too” Catra whispered, ears low as her gaze. Adora reached for her hand, but the worry on her face didn’t disappear. 

“Weeell…” Entrapta said while lifting using her hair. “If they had the chips, they might have modified them, but only if there’s someone who can do such things. The chip is tiny and it’s a wonderful example of alien technology, you must be quite an expert to change the connectors and make it not harmful.”

“But it’s possible.”

“Yeah, definitely! Why haven’t I thought about it before! I could…”

“NO!” everyone shouted, and Entrapta’s enthusiasm fell. 

“Oh.” But just for a moment. “But it’s regular technology now, so maybe I can build a transmitter to interfere with its signal!”

Adora’s eyes snapped open. 

“Or trace it!”

“Yes! Maybe.”

“It’s enough, try. Perfuma, Mermista, Frosta, you can try to question people, maybe someone has seen them. They can’t be far, they weren’t tired and their shoes were quite clean. And we didn’t find a skiff or a rover, so…”

Bow let himself fall on his chair and covered his face with his hands. 

“It’s all my fault. If she didn’t organize the party…”

“They planned the attack, Bow. They wanted to take her, they would have done it on another occasion, maybe when she was alone. It’s a good thing that it happened when we were all there, at least now we know who we’re up against.”

“Yeah, and Wolfa’s wounded now, Melog hit her with a speaker” Catra added. "If we're lucky enough, it broke a couple of her ribs."

Bow stayed there and just shook his head. 

“We were all there, and we didn’t save her.”

Adora tried to ignore the stab of guilt that hit her heart. 

“It… it was my fault, Bow” she sighed. Suddenly she felt… tired. She thought it was over. No more war, no more battles. Just happiness, she and Catra, and their friends, living all together in peace.  _ _That’s why they won_ _ , she realized. _I was unprepared_ . “You were unconscious. That bomb… Entra…” But Entrapta wasn’t there. She eyed Scorpia. “Ask her to find out something about that bomb, please.”

Scorpia nodded and gave her a quick smile. 

“Sure.” And then she marched outside the room. 

“I need to do something” Bow said, leaping up. “I could go with Perfuma and try to find out where they’re hiding.”   
It wasn’t a bad idea. Better than having an hysterical Bow around. 

“Of course. Go, the sooner the better.”

He gave her a grateful glance and then grabbed Perfuma’s hand and dragged her out of the room. Mermista, Seahawk and Frosta stood up. 

“We’re going too, I guess. See you later” Mermista said before going away with her fiance (Adora never saw Sea Hawk so depressed and  _ quiet _ ). 

Frosta followed her with a gloomy face.

“I need to punch someone” she muttered while leaving. 

“So” Catra said as they were left alone, eyeing her. “What do we do?”

Adora sighed, leaning against the chair. 

“We need to stay here in Bright Moon, Micah and Castaspella are coming back with Swifty and someone has to keep the castle safe.”

Catra wrinkled her nose.

“I’d rather kick someone’s ass.”

They shared a tired smirk. 

“Me too, Catra. Me too.”   
  
  


  


  


Wolfa looked at her with genuine curiosity. The young Queen didn't look scared at all, despite her situation. She crouched in front of her, then sat, legs crossed, a more comfortable position since she planned to be there a while. Her back was feeling a little better thanks to Ophid’s cures, but it still hurt. That speaker was heavy. 

She bit the dried meat and offered another piece of it to the prisoner. 

"Food?" she asked. Glimmer just stared at her with anger in her eyes. "Don't be silly, Your Majesty. You'll stay here for a while, you'd better eat, or you'll never be strong enough to run away."

That was enough to awaken her curiosity. 

"You want me to escape?"

Wolfa laughed hard.

"No, no!" she said. “I was just guessing what you were thinking.”

Glimmer’s face covered in surprise, then she blushed a little. Looked like the rebels weren’t capable of hiding their emotions. Good for her. 

“What did you do to me?”

Wolfa took the time to eat another piece of meat before answering.

“I installed a chip on your nervous system, so that I can use your teleportation powers whenever I want, thing that you can’t do, thanks to that bracelet.” She nodded towards the metal band she had wrapped around her right wrist when she attacked her and watched her shiver, fear in her eyes. “Before you ask, yes, we used one of Prime Horde’s chips. But it’s temporary, don’t worry.”

Glimmer shivered again and her face paled, but her words also seemed to grow the anger in her. 

“You can’t hope to defeat us. You caught us off-guard, fine, but that was the first and last time. They will come here and they will  _ annihilate  _ you.”

Wolfa laughed hard. 

“And how could they? They have no idea of where we are.”

“They will find me.”

“Oh, Glimmer, poor you. So naive, so delusional.”

“You don’t know them!”

“But I do” she snarled, spooking her. “I know Adora, Scorpia,  _ Catra _ … And, oh, the other princesses, I know them pretty well, too. I fought them many, many times. I fought against you.”

Glimmer frowned. 

“So this is it? What is it all about? You’re mad at us because we defeated you when you were in the Horde?”

Wolfa let out a venomous laughter. 

“I’m a decent person, Glimmer, don’t ever insult me again assuming I’m a sore loser. I’ve lost much, and I’ve accepted it.”

The girl looked somehow impressed. That angered her. “Did your winged mother teach you to listen?”

A shot of pain ran into Glimmer's eyes. Good, she just found a weak point.

“She tried, but I’m afraid she was never able to.”

Wolfa smirked. She liked her nerve, the stare of hatred she was giving her. She wouldn’t stand a weak enemy.

“Good. Because I'm telling you a story, and you're going to listen very carefully.”

Glimmer looked reluctant, but she finally laid her head against the pillar, her body relaxing a little bit. And Wolfa started talking.

“We met on the battlefield, Your Majesty. More than once. I was there in Thaymor, Salineas, in the middle of the sea, and so many times I’ve lost the count. You can’t remember me of course, I was just one of the Horde’s soldiers wearing full armor, my face was hidden. You’re right, you defeated us every time we fought against you. Your strategy is terrible, but you’re powerful, and you have a living weapon with you, She-Ra… It’s quite impossible to defeat you.”

“Why are you even trying then?”

Wolfa growled, showing her fangs, and Glimmer pressed her back to the pillar. 

“Silence! Don’t test my patience.” She let her feral stare scare her, then she plowed on. “As I was saying, you have that magic that lets you win. You yourself threw me from the sky with your power, a couple of times.” She didn’t see a pinch of guilt in her eyes. “I fell, but I was lucky. A few broken bones, weeks in bed. A couple of months, once.” Ah, there it was. A little bit of regret. Stupid girl. It was time to sink the blow. “My friend Amy wasn’t as lucky. You know, when you guys blow up a tank, you should think that, maybe, someone’s inside.” The Queen’s eyes widened.  _ _Very well_ _ . “I saw her die after weeks of sufferings. Her whole body was burnt. I was laying right next to her when she passed away, holding her hand.”

She silenced, drinking the horror and guilt on Glimmer’s face to stand the pain. 

“I-I’m sorry, I never wanted to…”

"It's war. People die." That seemed to shut her up. "I told you, I'm not a sore loser. You won, she died, fine. This is not  _the reason_ ."

Glimmer hesitated before asking. It was clear that her words struck her.

"Then what is?"

"Would you tell your enemies? No. I'm not telling you why, right now I just want you to realize what you've done. The lives you've broken."

"I was defending my people!"

Wolfa leaped up.

"You ruined everything!"

“How? Saving Etheria?”

“Yes!”

They were yelling at each other, and Kara came running.

“Is everything alright?” she asked, worried. 

Wolfa took in a breath, eying Glimmer with more anger than she wanted to show. 

“Perfectly fine. Soon we’ll fix everything.”

And with that she marched away with Kara, or she would surrender to her rage and smash the Queen’s head.


	5. Of nightmares and dreams

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Here's another chapter, I hope you'll like it! :) Thank you for reading and commenting the previous one, I found the Grammar corrections really useful :D <3

The night was quite cold, and weirdly silent after all that noise. Adora was sleeping, a bit agitated in her dreams, but not enough to alarm her. She was just dreaming of fighting, probably. As always. 

Catra couldn’t go back to sleep. Her heart was pounding in her chest, she was sweating, adrenaline kept running through her veins. Melog was red and walking nervously up and down the bedroom. 

She closed her eyes, trying to normalize her heart rate with long, paused breaths, but flashes of that damn nightmare kept appearing behind her shut lids. 

Prime sneering. The green pool, the terror, the pain… she’d never forget that pain. And that feeling, of being completely alone. Forgotten somewhere in space to die alone. She shivered, the ghost of the feeling of the chip clasped to her neck haunting her; Melog grunted softly. 

She remembered the time when all she used to rely on were memories. Memories of the rare happy moments in the Fright Zone, the ones where it was only she and Adora, alone in their room, hidden in the corridors, playing, chatting, whispering, protecting each other. But now the memories were the ones defeating her. What Prime had done to her was… too much. The pain she felt, the fear, it was just too much.

She felt tears forming at the corner of her eyes and she tried with all herself to swallow them back. At the same time, Perfuma’s voice repeated in her head: “ _ _You’ve been through a lot, Catra. You have to let go. If you don’t let yourself feel all those emotions, you’ll never understand them, and you’ll never feel better. You’re strong and brave, you can do it_ _ __.”

So she let the tears flow, and she let the sobs and sighs shake her body. 

Adora woke up abruptly, her eyes focused on her almost immediately. She sat up, wrapping her in her arms. Her warmth was already starting to make her feel better. When they hugged, on Darla, she had already saved her from Prime. She had come back for her. There had been ups and downs then, but still, Adora had finally shown her that she cared about her. Catra had always seen that hug, that infinite hug (‘cause she didn’t let go of Adora for a very long time), all sore and dizzy after that She-Ra had healed her but so damn aware of her solid body pressed against hers, real, not a dream, so real… she’d always seen that hug like the beginning of her recovery. She was still there, struggling with her guilts, unbelieving that Adora was really there for her, deeply wounded by Prime, by Shadow Weaver, by Hordak, by Double Trouble, by herself. But she was recovering, slowly, asking for help, trying to be better. 

“What’s going on?” Adora whispered in her ear, soft and sweet like she always was in the middle of the night. Catra was finally stopping to cry so desperately, so she managed to speak, hating her broken voice. 

“Just a stupid nightmare.”

Adora moved to look her in the eyes, her warm hands cupping her face.

“You’re right, it was just a nightmare. You're safe. I’m here.”

Obviously, Adora knew exactly what she dreamt, seen that it happened almost every night. 

Catra nodded.

“I know, it’s just…” she shrugged, unable to finish the sentence, but Adora understood. She laid down and motioned her to come closer. Catra snuggled next to her, head on her shoulder, one arm around her waist, and Adora held her close. 

“I’m sorry I woke you up again.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t wake up earlier.”

Catra smiled.

“You were dreaming.”

A moment of silence.

“Oh, yeah. Mermista was stealing my food and we were fighting.”

Catra couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

“Of course.”

She didn’t see it, but she was sure she was smiling. She glanced at Melog, that was now curled up, their mane blue, almost asleep. She felt better, sleepy, indeed. She closed her eyes. 

“Goodnight, dummy.”

“Goodnight… Catra.” The hesitation in Adora’s voice wasn’t enough to keep her awake.  She probably couldn’t find a nice way to insult me , she thought right before falling asleep. 

  


  


  


  


Adora kept thinking about it. Why didn’t she just say it?  Goodnight, my love.  It was so easy! So why did she just say her name instead? But she knew the answer: she was afraid that Catra would mock her. She was also aware that Catra mocked her every time, and that it was just her way of telling her that she loved her, and she liked it. But still, regret was filling her veins. She hated to feel regretful. She’d been for too long. 

She would tell her, next time, that night. 

“Adora?”

She gave a start. Micah was staring at her. Shame colored her cheeks. Glimmer was in danger, and all she could think about was how to call her girlfriend? 

“Sorry, I was… thinking. We still don't know where they are, but Entrapta said that the bomb was artisanal, but a well-made one. Scorpia said that Tauro was known for his interest in technology, in the Fright Zone, so he’s probably their technician. She’s also trying to trace the chip’s signal…”

“You were one of them, Adora. When will they attack again?”

Adora froze. She glanced down.

“I would…”

“You wouldn’t” Catra cut in, sharp. “You’re too prudent, but I would.” She looked at Micah then. “Now. I would attack now, I would attack the princesses now that they’re alone.”

Adora widened her eyes.

“Why didn’t you tell me yesterday?!”

“Because we need them to find where they are! And if you just let me finish...”

Adora was horrified. How could she not think about it? 

“We need to protect them!”

“Adora, they can defend themselves. It’s not an army, it’s just four people.”

“Yeah, four people with a technology that can control their magic!”

Catra looked her in the eyes.

“If there’s one thing I learned, is that magic can’t be controlled. Glimmer will escape, like she escaped Shadow Weaver. And if those idiots will ever attack the others, well, I’m sure we’ll get at least one prisoner, and so all the information we need.”

Adora remembered herself to breathe. Catra was right, and she was just panicking. But…

“But we have to make sure that they’re safe. They could fall in a trap…”

“Perfuma is with Bow, Mermista is with Sea Hawk. The only one alone is Frosta, but,” she snorted, “she can take care of herself, that kid can’t wait to fight.”

“That doesn’t mean that she's safe.”

“You can’t leave Bright Moon unguarded, Adora!”

Adora pointed at Micah with her hand. 

“It’s not! Micah, Castaspella, Swifty and Scorpia will protect it!”

Catra lowered her ears. 

“Think, Adora: why didn’t they kill them? They could have and you know that.”

Adora’s head was about to explode, she was pretty sure about it. 

“I don’t know, Catra, that’s the problem! I have no idea why they’re doing this!”

“Well, it’s clear that they wanted Glimmer. They want  power .”

Adora paused to think about it. 

“Why Glimmer?” she asked. “Where do they need to go that they can’t reach without teleportation?”

Catra smirked. 

“That’s the question.”

Adora felt a burst of energy ignite her. 

“Glimmer’s powers are limited. She can’t go anywhere” she murmured. 

“Well,” Micah intervened, “it depends.” 

Adora gazed at him.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, she can’t reach the other side of Etheria, of course, but if they get close enough to, let’s say, the Crimson Waste, she could. Not knowing where they want to go, we can’t determine if she could bring them there.”

“If we could only find out where they’re hiding…” Castaspella sighed, her brows furrowed. 

“We can’t, but we could lead them into a trap.”

Adora stared at Catra.

“How? We know nothing about them.”

“Wrong. We have the same training.”

Adora frowned. 

“And?”

“Oh, Adora” Catra snorted. “Give them an enemy and they will attack them. You could be that enemy. They want power? Maybe they want to try to control you like they controlled Sparkles. I’m pretty sure they can’t control She-Ra, though” she sneered. 

Adora widened her eyes. 

“That’s why you didn’t stop me, yesterday.” Catra’s smile widened, thus confirming her suspects. “You could tell me at least!”

“In front of the others? No, thanks. They would have stayed. We’re strong enough to handle four soldiers. We even have Sparkles Senior” she said motioning at Micah, who raised an eyebrow. 

“Catra!”

“What? Scorpia will fry Wolfa with her power, I will take care of the others, and if it wasn’t enough, Melog, Micah, Castaspella and your horse will protect you. I would never risk your life, Adora.”

The hint of disappointment in her eyes made her feel horrible. 

“Of course, Catra, I know” she said, calmer. “I’m just tired of not knowing things.” Oh, if it was true! Wolfa, her pack, her reasons, where was Glimmer, how was she… But these were only the latest. There was still something dark about herself that kept eroding her mind. She didn’t really care, they used her like a weapon and abandoned her on another planet to die, but she was curious about her origins. Her parents. Did she have any? Not anymore, of course, seen that Prime had destroyed the First Ones, but… was even Adora her real name? Of course not, it was the one Shadow Weaver had picked for her. A sense of melancholy hit her at that thought. The moment she died showed in front of her eyes like a hologram, visible only to her memory. She had been her mother, somehow. Or the most similar thing to a mother. And she was so damn conflicted about her, because of the way she was frightened everytime she was around, and because she wasn’t good at all, but with Catra she had been terrible, so she should hate her, but still… she didn’t know how she was supposed to feel about her, and it was… confusing. 

Catra looked relieved, but not enough, so she forced herself to throw away those bulky thoughts and smile at her. “I like your plan” she added, managing to make her smile in turn. “Let’s show them what we’re capable of.”

  


  


  


  


  


Glimmer kept staring at that damn wall, furious with herself, hating those people. First of all, they ruined Bow’s birthday party, and she would never forgive them for that. Second, and maybe more important, the leader was quite scary and could use her like a doll. A magic one. That chip behind her neck pinched and… oh, she tried with all herself to break the metal bracelet around her wrist, but she couldn’t. It was thin and cold, always cold, even if it was a while that it was in contact with her skin. The Horde soldier put it around her wrist when she attacked her, but she noticed just later, when she tried to teleport. The pain she felt was similar to the one she experienced when the Horde caught her and Shadow Weaver used her powers to keep her prisoner, but it was somehow different. More intense, even if less painful, as if that energy was clutching to her bones without really damaging her, while the Black Garnet’s could kill her. But she had defeated it, and she would defeat this one, too. She was just waiting for the right moment. 

The leader was back after hours, or so it seemed to her. She could hear them all whispering all the time, unable to understand what they were saying. Someone laughed, sometimes, and that sound was so lighthearted that it confused her. But still, they were just like any other person from the Horde, right? Good people trained to be bad. Well, she hoped they were good. But the wolf-girl… Glimmer stared into those pale-yellow eyes. She was looking at her as if she wasn’t sure whether to choke her or give her a glass of water. She handed her the glass, fortunately, because Glimmer was starting to feel thirsty. Like, a lot. But of course she was tied up, so she had to experience the humiliation of being given to drink by her enemy. 

“What’s your name?” she tried to ask, sure that she would just snarl at her. Instead, the girl surprised her, once again, like when she reassured her twice, telling her that she wasn’t about to kill her and also that she wouldn’t have left those devices on her forever. It was weird how she looked ruthless and thoughtful at the same time.

“Wolfa” she said, just as easily. So maybe… 

“Why me?”

Wolfa stayed silent for a while, staring at her. Then she gave a small sigh and gifted her with new information. 

“Because you’re valuable.”

Glimmer widened her eyes. 

“What? I thought…”

“Oh, you thought it was for your powers?” She chuckled, showing white, long fangs where she had only flat canines. “No. I mean, we planned to use you to teleport, obviously, but that’s not the main reason why we chose you. We hit the Rebellion at the heart and gave them something, sorry, someone to search for.”

Oh. Wait, did she just say…?   
“Rebellion? Wolfa, we’re not the Rebellion anymore, the Horde doesn’t even exi…”

Glimmer suddenly hit the cement behind her, her back hurt, and then she wasn’t able to breath anymore: Wolfa’s hand was pinning her to the pillar, choking her, and she was growling. 

“DON’T YOU DARE TO SAY IT!”

Glimmer was about to pass out when someone pulled the girl away: “Wolfa, no! We need her alive!” 

She coughed, struggling to breathe. And what happened then, she wasn’t sure that she didn’t imagine it. Wolfa pushed the snake-boy away, but she had to walk next to Glimmer to go away and she saw, or thought to see, that she was wiping away tears from her eyes. But maybe she was just dizzy for the lack of air. She met the boy’s worried gaze, so in contrast with his vertical pupils drowned in the red of his eyes. 

“Do you need anything?” His voice was masculine, rough even, but kind, as his gaze. His yellow and green hair partly fell over his eyes, his shortcut hairstyle was a bit messy, as if he needed someone to take care of it. 

“Yes. I need to know what you want, why are you doing this.”

He shook his head slightly and the longest green lock of hair eventually fell over his eyes. 

“I can’t talk to you, I’m sorry.”

Glimmer was about to insist, but Wolfa’s snarl made her jump. 

“OPHID! Leave the prisoner alone!”

He gave her one last glance, as if he wanted to apologize to her, then he left. Glimmer swallowed, her neck was sore, her arms too, but she smiled. Maybe she couldn’t rely on Wolfa’s self control, after all, but Ophid looked really worried for her. She’d met real evil, and they weren’t, she could see it in their eyes, hear it in their laughters, see it in the way they touched each other’s back or shoulder. She relaxed against the pillar, swallowing and grimacing: her throat was still aching, but that was something she could forgive Wolfa for. She clearly lost control, and those tears… they weren’t evil. They were desperate. And she would find a way to use that desperation and free herself, because it was that desperation that made them dangerous. 


	6. The trap

“So…”

Catra turned and met Adora’s stare, but just for a moment before Adora glanced away, blushing.  _What’s going on? Maybe she’s mad at me because I didn’t tell her about the plan..._

“Adora…”

“No, I…” She sighed and turned again, and took her hands. Her eyes were wide open, two gorgeous light-blue gems, and there was fear in them, and that scared her. “I love you” she said, frightening her even more, even if those were the most beautiful words ever. 

“I love you too” she murmured, cautious. Adora’s eyes became glassy and Catra’s heart made a jump.  __What the hell…?_ _ “Adora, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing” she smiled, but her eyes were filled with tears. “I just… need to tell you something.”

Catra swallowed. Was she breaking up with her? She sat on their bed, next to her, trying to keep calm. 

“You can tell me anything.” She tried to keep her voice clean, but her heart was beating like a drum and she was terrified. Adora strengthened the hold on her hands. 

“I know, I just… I never told anyone since… But maybe you…” Her breaths were shortening. Catra leaned closer and freed her hands from her clasp only to cup her face with them. 

“Adora, calm down. Relax, it’s me, you can talk to me. Nothing you’ll say will ever make me stop loving you.” It was quite hard to say it, to admit it, even if it was so obvious. She was hers. She’d always been.

Adora was looking at her with a weird plea in her gaze.

“I wanted to kill him” she started to sob, like she’d never done before. Actually, Catra realized that she never saw her cry, not like this. 

It took a bit for her to understand also who she was talking about. 

“Prime?” she whispered.

Adora nodded and her sighs became almost moans. It was like looking at a thin glass cracking and shuttering into a million fragments. Adora was now sobbing desperately. Catra hesitated just one second more, then she wrapped her in her arms and, for once, it was her comforting Adora. 

“I wanted to, I hated him so much for what he’d done to you” she sobbed. It hit her right in the heart. She did it for her? For  ___ vengeance _ __? “When.. when we were on D-Darla a-and you… you… I just…” She was crying too hard to manage to speak. Catra rocked her gently, caressing her back.

“It’s all right” she whispered. Her heart broke seeing her always controlled girlfriend collapse like thin ice under a heavy stone. But was it all right? Adora, her Adora, pure of heart and dumb of ass (not really, she thought she was very smart, actually), killing someone for revenge? She never thought it could be possible. Well…  ___ never  _ __was too much, probably. Adora was also a soldier, a warrior. And she could be a cold-blooded one, she knew it. The fact that she never actually wanted to kill her put her in the wrong mindset. Adora had been soft with her. But with someone she actually hated… Well, she wouldn’t want to be in their shoes.

And the fact that she could have killed Prime to avenge her was somehow… good. She knew she shouldn't, but felt flattered, grateful. It was another proof of how much she meant to her. It brought tears to her eyes, but also a stinging guilt, because now Adora was miserable because of this, because of her.

“I wanted to do it for Etheria, I swear, but… I... “ Her voice broke once again. “I enjoyed killing him.”

Catra moved to look her in her eyes, even though Adora’s gaze kept running away from hers. 

“I’ve done worse.”

“You didn’t enjoy…”

“I sent Entrapta to die and accused her of treachery, I tried to kill you and all of your friends, I sent my soldiers to kill a lot of people to conquer Etheria and, oh, yeah, I also broke the world. Please, Adora, you can’t win.”

She smirked through the guilt, and gained a dubious stare from her girlfriend. It was something. But Catra then let go that fake smile and just looked at her. “I’m happy you killed that bastard. Like, really, really happy. I’m sorry you feel guilty, but really, Adora, there was no other way.”

“That’s not the point…”

“I know. But he deserved it. And…” She swallowed the knot that was forming in her throat. “Call me a monster, but I like the fact that you did it for me.”

Adora widened her eyes and caressed her face. 

“You’re not a monster. You’re… beautiful” she whispered. Catra felt her cheeks flare. It was the first time she told her. Her heart jumped in her chest. “In and out.”

She couldn’t control herself anymore. Wolfa could attack, Scorpia was just outside the door, but she kissed her girlfriend and pushed her down on the bed, starting to undress her. That damn shirt, she wanted to just rip it.  ___ Fuck it _ __, she thought, and then she used her claws to rip the fabric and uncover that gorgeous body of hers, the light skin, the muscles.

Adora was gasping under her, still shook by her emotions but also, she could tell by her smell and her gaze, aroused. 

“We probably shouldn’t, if they attack…”

Catra leaned over her, talking at one inch from her mouth. 

“If anyone dares to stop us now, I swear I will set them on fire.”

Adora chuckled lightly and Catra used that moment to take off her trousers, keeping back from tearing them apart, too. She was about to take off her panties, too, when she heard… something. She froze, ears up. Adora understood something by her face because she sat up, asking her what was wrong just with her eyes, silent, as if she knew that she was listening. 

Catra turned abruptly and hissed, jumped, and at the same time she threw the blanket over Adora. Wolfa was there, standing next to the waterfall, arms crossed and a ferocious light in her eyes. Catra didn’t waste a second: she ran and engaged the intruder, trying to punch her, kick her, scratch her at least, but Wolfa was quick and strong and she kept ducking or parrying her blows, without responding with a single punch. She tried jumping behind her and managed to make her fall by kicking her legs with a sweep, then she jumped on her belly and aimed her claws at her throat, hissing. 

Adora, in the meantime, had turned into She-Ra and was approaching. 

“Where are your friends?” Adora asked, her whole, tall body irradiating light and power. Catra focused on the enemy, she had to, but she secretly admitted for the umpteenth time that she was absolutely breathtaking. 

Wolfa snorted. Apparently, she didn’t mind staying there, under threat of death.

“Busy. What about yours?”

“You’re about to find out. SCORPIA!”

Wolfa laughed. Catra had to find herself laying on the ground before realizing that Wolfa had grabbed her wrist and her left thigh and had jumped up, throwing her away. She was backing away now, ready to fight again. Catra stood up, anger burning in her veins. 

“That crab is supposed to scare me?” Wolfa spread her arms. What the hell was she doing?  Wait…  “Come on, She-Ra. Attack me. Or maybe, you don’t have it in you?”

Adora clenched her teeth. 

“You have no idea what I’m capable of. I’m just giving you a chance to tell me where Glimmer is before I make you do it.”

“Adora…” Catra murmured. “It’s a diversion.”   
Scorpia entered the room. 

“What… Wolfa?! How did you…?”

Wolfa didn’t even bother to look at her. 

“Hi, Scorp.”

Did they know each other so well? Anyway, Adora was glancing at her now, questioningly. 

“A diversion from what?”

Catra relaxed a bit and walked to Wolfa. She was taller than her, almost as Scorpia, and she fixed her yellowish eyes on her. Catra slowed down her pace. There was something weird in that look. It seemed almost… friendly?

“Why are you here, Wolfa? You broke into the castle unarmed, risking your life, for what? You’re smarter than that.”

“How would you know? Maybe I’m a fool.” Something darkened in her stare, and was her voice softer?

“I’m sure you are” Adora cut in, joining her, her sword pointed at Wolfa’s chest. The soldier’s stare became cold steel as she moved it on Adora. 

“You know nothing about me. I bet you can’t even remember me, can you?” At Adora’s hesitation, she snorted, showing her fangs. “Of course not” she said in a low growl. “Shadow Weaver didn't let anyone get near you except for Catra and those three idiots. You were always her favourite, and she blamed us for the rest.”

Catra felt those words as an old wound that suddenly had started stinging. But, no, she had to stay focused. 

“That’s why you came here? To have a little talk about Shadow Weaver and how cruel she was? It was never Adora’s fault!”

Wolfa eyed her again, and once again her gaze softened. 

“Oh, really? You think I didn’t notice how many times she got you in trouble, even if she knew that you would pay for both?”

Catra felt a sudden burst of rage invade her, and she stepped forward, closer to the soldier. 

“Adora has always protected me, always!”

Wolfa snorted once again and rubbed her neck. 

“Yeah, sure. That’s why she got a pat and you a punishment.”

Catra kicked her, and Wolfa backed away under her push. Adora attacked her, too, and she had to dodge her blade. 

“Oh, how honorable of you, She-Ra, to attack an unarmed enemy...” 

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you!” Adora kept attacking her, and Wolfa kept avoiding her blows, until she found herself with the open window behind and nowhere else to go. Adora touched her throat with the tip of the blade. Catra held her breath. The fury in her girlfriend's eyes was… dangerous. But she knew she wouldn’t kill Wolfa, not when they still had to find Glimmer, not with her unable to defend herself. 

“Come on, Adora. What are you waiting for? Aren’t you the perfect little Shadow Weaver’s tool? Or are you Glimmer’s mighty weapon? Oh, no, wait, the First One’s weapon, maybe? Sorry, it’s kinda confusing…” Wolfa had to stop talking because Adora grabbed her by the uniform and pinned her against the wall next to the window, making her grunt for the impact.

“You really shouldn’t have said that” Catra sighed. 

“I’m none’s weapon” Adora growled. Catra felt a shiver run down her back. Maybe she was going to kill her, after all. 

“You’re right, you’re nothing now. The war is over, what’s your purpose?”

Adora moved quickly, letting her go and aiming again the sword at her throat. 

“Right now is to find out where Glimmer is, and you’d better cooperate.”

“Or what? You’ll tan me to death with your shiny hair?”

Catra would laugh if the situation wasn’t that bad. 

“You don’t really hope to leave Bright Moon tonight, do you?” she cut in. “You basically delivered yourself to us. Why?”

Wolfa gazed at her. And smirked. 

“I needed some time. Well, Tauro and Ophid did, actually.”

Catra let out a frustrated snarl. They fooled her, she let them fool her! 

“I knew it, you bitch!”

Wolfa laughed. 

“Now, if you don’t mind…”

She jumped and kicked Adora in the face, making her falter, then she turned and ran to the terrace, and… oh, shit! Just behind the column of the arc there was Glimmer, tied up and gagged and unconscious! Catra had just the time to see Wolfa sneer, Scorpia’s power run towards the soldier and Adora shout out their friend’s name that the wolf-girl pressed her palm behind Glimmer’s neck and they both disappeared as Glimmer woke up. 

  


  


  


  


  


Scorpia was walking up and down the room, her claws moving continuously.

“Oooooh, how could I not notice? She was right there!” she pointed her claws at the column. Then she grabbed Catra by her shoulders. “How?!”

Catra snapped at her claws and walked away, her tail moving nervously. 

“At least we know she’s fine.”

“She’s using her like some transportation!” Adora murmured, unable to stand up from the bed. She lost Glimmer once again. 

“DID SOMEONE SAY SWIFT WIND?”

Oh, no. The last thing she needed was her chatty unicorn. She loved him, but she just couldn’t stand his try to cheer her up now. 

“Actually, no” Catra said. But the horse didn’t let her bring him down. 

“Maybe I can help!”

“Yeah. Kick me in the head so I don’t have to hear your stupid voice.”

“Hey, you’re rude!”

Catra smirked. 

“A lot nicer than before, though.”

“Not really” Adora commented, capturing then Catra’s worried gaze. “I love that you’re sassy, don’t look at me like that. Swifty, could you please try to find Frosta? I can’t leave Bright Moon and you’re faster than…”

“ON MY WAY TO THE KINGDOM OF SNOWS!”

“I don’t think she’s already there, she’s probably…”

“ON MY WAY TO THE ROAD TO THE KINGDOM OF SNOWS!”

“Fine, whatever…Go!”

Swift Wind left, finally. 

Adora let herself fall back on the bed, covering her face with her hands. 

“I can’t protect anyone from here. I need to go out there and do something!”

“Well, but if…” Scorpia was saying when Entrapta and Emily bursted inside the room.

“They’re stealing Darla!”

Adora froze. 

“WHAT?!”

“Emily ran here from Dryl to warn us! They interfered with my communication system somehow, they must have some sort of transmitter with an extremely wide range of frequencies to find... ”

“Shit” Catra hissed while Entrapta was still babbling about technology, and their eyes met. “We need to stop them. Call back Swift Wind, Frosta’s safe.”

Adora let her rage and worry get to the horse, wondering why would they ever want a spaceship. If they wanted to bring Glimmer to another planet she would stop them, no matter what. Wolfa had just lost her last chance to stay healthy. 

“For the honor of Grayskull!”

She found herself in She-Ra form in one second. She gazed at Catra, and she saw her lower her ears, eyes widened. 

“Come with me.”

Catra just nodded, and as Swift Wind flew into the bedroom they both jumped on his back.

“Entrapta, can you keep them busy with your robots?”

Entrapta smiled widely. 

“Oh, they’re already having a lot of fun!”

“Great. Scorpia, alert Micah and then join us there as fast as you can.”

Scorpia nodded.

“I’ll use a skiff, don’t worry.”

Adora clenched the hold on her sword.

“Let’s bring Glimmer back home.”


	7. Meet the fox

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for following this story and for the lovely comments, they help me a lot to go on with it! <3  
> I hope you’ll enjoy this chapter :*

Wolfa hit another of those robots with her staff, then she jumped using it as a leverage and landed on the machine. She crashed the metal with a punch and teared away the wires, feeling a little shock run through her arm. She barely noticed it. She jumped again growling, hitting with her shoulder another robot that had put Tauro in a corner. Her back protested, but she didn’t care.

“Thanks, boss.”

She impaled the robot with the staff and turned to look at him. 

“Don’t thank me, fight!” And she was gone again, hitting and punching and kicking those pieces of metal. She tackled Kara, who was right in the shot trajectory of another robot. 

“Thank you” she panted. Wolfa stood up and helped her do the same. 

“They’re too many. RETREAT!” she shouted so that even Ophid, who was protecting the unconscious Queen of Bright Moon in the next corridor, could hear her. “AVOID THE ROBOTS, GO TO THE SHIP!” 

Tauro gored one last robot before joining them in the run to the spaceship. 

“This place is a bloody maze!” Ophid panted. 

“Can’t we just wake up the girl and teleport there?” Kara asked. 

“It was a long road to Dryl, she’s too tired, we would kill her” Wolfa said while running. “And we might still need her.”

“Fine” Tauro grunted, and then he darted to clear the road for them, sending a couple of robots to smash against the walls with his horns. Wolfa smirked. 

“We’re even!”

She heard him laugh. They should be close to the hangar now, but it was nowhere to be seen. 

There were no more robots around. Wolfa slowed her pace and her friends imitated her. 

“Did we get lost?”

“I don’t know…” she murmured. They didn’t have much time. She was sure that those robots had warned the tech princess despite Tauro’s device, and she was in Bright Moon, so She-Ra knew they were there, even if the diversion had worked. She tried closing her eyes and sniffing, but all she could sense was the vague smell of the princess still lingering in the air, the smell of her friends and a lot of metal and oil. 

“This way,” Tauro said. “There’s a locked door here. Lemme just…” He took a running start and crashed the little keypad next to the metal door with his horns. The door opened, but an alarm started screaming, hurting her sensitive ears. 

“Urgh… Make it stop!”

Tauro was already tapping on his transmitter with his hooves, as fast as he could. 

“Yeah, I’m working on it…” The alarm stopped, and he smiled at her. “Done!” 

She glowered at him, her ears were ringing. 

“Don’t you ever do that again!”

“I didn’t know there was an alarm!” 

“Well you should have known it! Let’s go now.”

They marched into the hangar, where the spaceship awaited for them.

“Woah” Tauro gulped. “That’s what I call a daydream!”

Kara pushed him further. 

“Come on, T, they're coming!”

But Wolfa stopped them all. 

“Wait.” She was hearing something in the distance, echoing through the corridors. A voice she could never forget. She gritted her teeth. “All aboard, NOW!”

They ran on the ship, Tauro immediately started pushing buttons and inserted a sort of card made of circuits in the control panel. The ship’s lights turned on, a feminine voice filled the air. 

“ _Welcome aboard, Tauro_ _._ ”

“Hello, lady” he sneered. “Close the door and bring us away from here.”

“ _As you wish, Tauro_ _._ ”

Wolfa went to the windows and froze. There she was, She-Ra in all her shining glory, with Catra and that flying horse. Oh. There were also Scorpia and Bow. Oh shit! Spinnerella, Netossa...

“If we don’t take off now, we’re dead” she said, eyes on the approaching enemies. 

“The door is locked, they can’t come here” Tauro reassured her, but she still felt anxious. She met Catra’s eyes through the window.

“A door won’t stop them. Make this thing fly  now !”

“I’m trying, boss, I’m trying…” 

She turned to see him tapping furiously at the controls. The ship was making weird rumors. 

“Is this normal?” Ophid asked. He had left Glimmer on the floor, she was still sleeping. 

“Considering I can’t see She-Ra out there anymore,” Kara said, “probably not.”

“Shit!” Wolfa tightened the grip around her staff. “Keep an eye on Glimmer. Ophid, with me.”

The ship leaped, its motors started emitting a low growl. She glanced at Ophid and preceded him through the corridors. The hatch was closed and looked fine. But still… Wolfa sniffed the air. The ship gave another jolt that forced her to spread her feet to keep the balance and started moving.

“Are they here?” Ophid asked with the lowest whisper. He knew she could hear him. She turned to face one of the corridors and simply nodded. She heard him turn on his stun-baton while she started walking towards their smell, as silent as she could. “How many?”

She shrugged. All she could smell were Catra and Adora. The other’s odours were confusing. 

They found themself in a quite large room where there were old food supplies and boxes piled on the floor. It looked empty, but she could smell them. 

She stopped, and so did Ophid. Her muscles tensed, ready to attack. 

“Show yourself, I know you're here!” she shouted. She heard someone move, then a faint whistle in the air. She moved just in time to avoid the arrow. She laughed. 

“Really? Come on…” Something hit her and sent her smashing against the boxes. It hurt like hell and she lost her staff. She stood up immediately though, a bit dazed by the impact and by that weird sensation. At the same time, she felt the spaceship move faster and realized that Ophid had been hit too, and he laid motionless on the floor. 

She-Ra was standing now a few steps away from her, dazzling and… angry. Damn, she really was mad at her. That’s what hit her: her sword had some sort of terrifying magical tentacle, like a huge whip.

Wolfa had just the time to stand up before Catra attacked her, jumping out of nowhere, slashing her claws and forcing her to move back. Wolfa ducked a couple of strikes and found a moment between them to grasp Catra’s wrist right before punching her in the stomach. She took the hit with a grunt, then she tried again to wound her but Wolfa was faster and made her turn using the hold on her wrist as leverage. She then passed her arm around her neck, threatening to choke her. That’s when she realized that she was widely outnumbered: it was her against She-Ra, Bow, Scorpia, Netossa and Spinnerella. They didn’t kill her only because they would’ve hurt Catra, too. 

“Surrender, Wolfa” Adora said, her sword a sword again, aimed at her and shining like a torch. “You can’t win this fight.”

Catra scratched her arm and tried to give her a nudge. She hit her, it hurt, but not enough to make her loosen her grip. Instead, Wolfa held her tighter, her body so tense it was almost painful. Catra’s body was so warm, solid and velvety, her scent intoxicating. She could barely think straight. 

“I may not, but your kitty here will die with me.”

She saw Adora clench her jaw. 

“The last one who tried to hurt her died, Wolfa” Adora’s voice was lower. If she didn’t know her since she was six, she would be afraid of her. “Don’t make me do the same to you.”

“I’d listen to her, if I were you” Catra said, digging her nails into her arm. She then moved her hips and hooked Wolfa’s leg, pulling her by the knee and managing to make her fall. Wolfa found herself in front of Catra and fell back when she punched her right in the face. But she stood up immediately, her cheek sore and pulsing. Catra was fast, though: she hit her again in the stomach, the leg, the face again. Wolfa managed to block the blow to the chest and grabbed her by her shirt, lifted her with a grunt (she was heavier than she looked) and punched her aiming at her left ear. That was enough to knock her out for a while, enough to roll on the floor, dragging Catra with her, to avoid another blast from Adora’s stupid sword and one of Netossa’s nets, and find refuge behind a pile of boxes. Just next to Ophid. She grasped his stun-baton and stood up, aiming it at Catra’s heart. 

Bow was about to throw an arrow, but he stopped. Wolfa smirked. 

“You’re smarter than you show. Drop your weapons. You too, Adora.”

They all shared a glance. 

Scorpia made a step forward, raising her claws. 

“Wolfa, come one, I know you would never kill Catra. Please, just stop acting like this, we were friends once…”

Wolfa laughed. 

“Friends? I kicked you out of my team! You’re a  princess !” she spat, contempt showing in her voice. 

Scorpia’s large shoulders dropped. 

“Princesses are not evil, Wolfa. How can you still believe it? They lied to us.”

Wolfa showed her fangs snarling. 

“They’re lying to you! They took everything from us! They destroyed our home!”

“We didn’t destroy anything, we healed Etheria!” Adora protested. Catra moaned and she moved to hold her better. 

“Shut up, traitor!” she cried, anger cracking her voice. 

Catra shook her head and grabbed her arm. Then she reached back and scratched her face, missing her left eye for just one inch.

“AARGH!”

  


  


  


Wolfa let her go and Catra pushed her away and jumped to distance from her. Her head was aching but she could fight. She didn’t have the chance to do it, though: Adora moved quickly and grabbed Wolfa by her uniform, ignoring her when she hit her with the stun-baton as if she didn’t even notice it, and slammed her up against the closest wall. Wolfa let go of the stun-baton, coughing a cry. Adora probably cracked her ribs, her muscled arms looked about to explode. Catra swallowed the mix of arousal, excitement and fear that that vision made her feel. 

Now Adora’s sword was pressed against Wolfa’s chest. 

“Come on!” the soldier shouted, pain and rage contorting her bleeding face. “What are you waiting for? Do it, She-Ra!”

But Adora was still, a white and golden statue. And Catra realized just now the reason: Wolfa was crying. Tears were rushing like rivers down her cheeks. She also raised her right fist and hit Adora’s arm again and again, and kicked her strong enough to make her falter and step back and to force her to smash her again against the wall. Catra heard her yelp, and this time she also heard the distinct crack of bones breaking. Wolfa was clinging to Adora’s golden bracelet now. “DO IT!” she screamed again, but Adora didn’t. She simply let her go, lowering her sword and stepping back. 

“Why do you want to die?” she asked her, and Catra could feel the sympathy in her girlfriend's voice. Wolfa was barely capable of standing up on her feet, but she growled and took back the stun-baton. 

She was about to face Adora again when a knife flew out of nowhere and hit Wolfa’s right shoulder blade, making her fall down with a cry. It was a tiny throwing knife, with a half moon on the handle, but it looked to have cut deep and be stuck in the soldier’s bone. Catra tensed, ready to attack even if whoever threw that dagger had just done them (and Wolfa) a favor, when a girl with orange, black and white large ears and a long, dark brown braid and deep orange eyes appeared from behind a pile of boxes. She had the time to notice her fluffy tail before she hit Wolfa on her head with the handle of a dagger, stopping any of her attempts to react. 

“Sorry, you were starting to become a problem” she said as Wolfa fell, grasping her head. It was also pretty clear that she couldn’t move her right arm now. She tried to hit the new one with the stun-baton anyway, but she easily disarmed her right before Netossa's net entrapped her. 

“Boom, nets!”

Wolfa snarled and tried to free herself, kicking and pulling the net, uselessly. 

“Who are you?” Catra asked cautiously, eyes on the fox-girl. Her pace was completely rumorless. Wolfa stopped growling and looked at the stranger in turn, as any of them. Who was that girl? She gave her a better look. She wore a blue leotard and blue and brown leggings, brown leather bracelets and, oh, she had plenty of knives and daggers. And she was approaching Adora,  She-Ra,  and her, without fear. 

“The name’s Azeria. I was part of the Rebellion, I fought the Horde in…”

“I know you” Netossa cut in. “I’ve seen you fight somewhere... where was it? Opalwood*, maybe?”

“Yeah, I’ve been there like five, six years ago!” 

Netossa smiled and Catra relaxed a bit. 

“Yes! Spinny, she’s the one with the daggers I told you about, remember?”

Their voices faded as her gaze was caught by the approaching tall, fearsome warrior that Adora still was. She noticed her furious stare as she glanced at Wolfa. Bow came there too. He aimed an arrow at Wolfa, fierce determination in his eyes. 

“Where’s Glimmer?”

It was obvious that Wolfa felt dizzy, but rage was still burning inside of her and overflowing from her stare, and also frustration. She glanced at Ophid, who was starting to regain consciousness. Scorpia, who was walking closer, noticed too, and went to him to keep him still with her claws. “I’m not gonna ask you twice” Bow insisted.

Wolfa clenched her jaw. Catra saw new tears spring from her eyes and felt awkward. She really didn’t expect her to cry so easily, since she was from the Horde, and seen that she looked so fierce and ruthless. 

“The cockpit. Don’t hurt Tauro and Kara” she murmured. Catra shared Bow’s surprise. Really? Just like that? “She’s fine, she should be awake now.” Catra gave a start. What the hell? She  _cared_ for Glimmer?

Bow stared at Wolfa with that shocked look for one second more, then he threw the arrow. As it hit her left arm, Wolfa fell asleep. 

  


  


  


  


  


  


Catra shook her head, moaning, massaging her ear.

“Gah, she hit me with all her strength. I was so stupid…”

Adora hugged her, trying to wipe away the last remnants of fear still lingering over her heart. She was so tiny in her arms when she was in She-Ra form... She eyed Wolfa with anger. She really wanted to kick her. Why did Bow put her to sleep before running to Glimmer? Netossa, Spinnerella and Azeria were with him, but it was still better to go and check if they needed help. And moreover, she still couldn’t trust Azeria completely, even if she helped them. She looked dangerous, and she didn’t know her.

“Stay here with Scorpia, I’m helping Bow with Glimmer.”

Catra nodded weakly. That bitch really hurt her. Adora rushed outside the warehouse, joining the others in the blink of an eye. Azeria was doing absolutely nothing but enjoying the scene: Netossa had already trapped Kara and Spinnerella had lifted Tauro in the air. The boy was screaming.

“PUT ME DOWN! PUT ME DOWN!”

She did, and her wife trapped him in a second.

“Boom, nets!” 

“Those nets are really cool, indeed!” Azeria commented before that Netossa high-fived her, making her laugh. Maybe she wasn’t that bad, after all. Netossa seemed to really trust her. 

Bow was down on his knees, hugging Glimmer and crying, and she was clinging to him with tears in her eyes. There were a few cut ropes on the floor next to her. Adora abandoned the She-Ra form and ran to join the hug, pure relief filling her heart. 

“Glimmer! How are you? What did they do to you?”

“I’m fine, I’m fine” she sobbed. Adora distanced to look at her. 

“Are you sure? Because I can heal you if…”

Glimmer put a hand on her shoulder smirking. 

“I’m fine, Adora.” She stood up and glanced at the prisoners. She sighed and wiped her eyes. “We should really build a prison in Bright Moon.”

Adora let herself laugh, and she felt a bit of the tension fly away with that sound. 

“Definitely.”

Glimmer looked at Bow. 

“I really need a bath and a change of clothes.”   
Adora glanced at the window, analyzing the black universe, the stars... One of Etheria’s moons was not far.

“Mh, we should be home in less than an hour.” She stepped to the cockpit and touched the panel. It didn’t respond. “What the…?” She noticed a card stuck in there. She ripped it out and touched the panel again. 

“ _Hello, She-Ra._ ” 

Adora smiled. 

“Hi, Darla. Bring us home as fast as you can.” 

She turned, feeling the ship change direction under her feet and accelerate, and saw Bow tinkering with a metal bracelet around Glimmer’s wrist. She didn’t notice it before. 

“What’s that?” She also saw only in that moment the chip behind her neck. She felt a shiver run down her spine and glanced worriedly at the corridor. She really didn’t want Catra to see it.

“It stops me from teleporting.”

“You won’t take it off” Kara intervened, looking at them with resentment clear in her brown eyes. Her fire-red hair fell messy around her face. The ship’s lights made the long scar that ran from her eyebrow to her jaw look paler on her tanned skin. She held the net as to lean towards them. “Only Tauro can. Where’s Ophid?” Adora saw a little glimpse of worry in her eyes, even if she was trying to hide it. 

“He just hit his head,” Spinny said. “He will be fine.”

“Good. But I will never help a princess” Tauro grumbled. Adora met his dark-blue eyes, they were full of anger and contempt. 

“I’m sure Entrapta can take off both the bracelet and the chip” Bow reassured Glimmer. Except she didn’t look scared at all. 

“I know.” She stretched her back. “Did I miss anything while I was in such good company?”

“Not really. They didn’t do much but steal Darla.”

“About that, do you have an idea of why they did it?” Adora asked. 

“We can hear you, you know that, right?”

She glanced at Tauro. 

“I bet you won’t answer me, though.” He looked away and pressed his lips together. “As I thought,” Adora sighed before looking at Glimmer again. 

“They didn’t tell me.”

“Yeah but…” Bow jumped on the seat and started using the controls. “We’ve got the route here. Uhm, let’s see... Adora, can you read…?”   
Adora went next to him and as she mentally translated the First Ones’ words she felt the blood leave her face.

“Why?” she asked, turning to look at Kara. She looked back at her without fear.

“I’m not betraying Wolfa. I won’t tell you anything.”

“What’s wrong?” Spinnerella asked, coming closer. Adora glanced at her, then she looked at Glimmer and Bow. 

“They were going to Prime’s ship.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *I invented this place, it’s not in the show


	8. Interlude, aka: this is not a chapter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I’m sorry for this chapter-not-chapter but I just wanted to share with you some doodles I made of my original characters - I thought I might help you to visualise them, I’m not sure of how effective my descriptions are :/

[ ](https://postimages.org/)

[ ](https://postimages.org/)

[ ](https://postimages.org/)

[ ](https://postimages.org/)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, thank you for the kudos, the comments and the support you’re giving me! We’re (over) halfway there and strange things are going to happen xD


	9. A bit like you, a bit like me

Bow’s sedative was still having an effect on Wolfa. She was sleeping curled up on the sofa in her “cell”. And she was dreaming. Not a good dream, judging by the sweat on her face, the gritted teeth, the clenched fists. Her wavy, white, mid-length hair was a tangled mess around her grey ears. She could see the four, dark-red marks she left on her cheek.

Catra felt sympathy for her. She had none to wake her up from her nightmare. 

She stepped back and turned, only to find Adora looking at her from the door. She joined her and they silently exited the room.

Adora looked at her worriedly. She seemed to always be worried for her, as if she was glass and could break. Well… she couldn't really blame her for that. And her attention was annoying, yes, but also the most beautiful thing in the universe. She was still an idiot, though.

"Are you okay?" 

"Of course. I was just checking on the prisoner."

Adora didn't buy it, but she didn't comment. Bless her idiot.

They shared a silent walk through the Bright Moon's corridors for a while, until Adora broke that silence.

"I know you're empathising with her."

Catra tried to glare at her but Adora stopped walking and looked her in the eyes with a concerned stare. "She reminds me of you a little bit. But scarier."

Of course Wolfa was like her to Adora. She was a crazy, deadly enemy. It was like a stab in the stomach. But also… Catra raised an eyebrow, a sudden blast of jealousy burning her veins. 

"So I'm not scary?"

"Oh no, you frightened me a couple of times…" Adora laughed. Yeah, like when she broke the world, she guessed. Jealousy was immediately replaced with guilt and regret.  ___ Shit _ __."...but I was never really afraid of you."

Catra glanced at her with mild surprise.

"I tried to kill you" she pointed out, her voice weaker than she wanted it to be. She hated it. She found refuge in those bright, loving eyes. They weren't judging, there was no anger, hate nor contempt in them. Just love, and a bit of concern. 

"I get why you did it. I just wish I got that earlier." 

Catra stayed in silence for a while, wondering how it could possibly be that Adora really loved her, and that that wasn't one of Prime's cruel dreams. 

"But… this still doesn't explain why you weren't scared."

Adora unexpectedly smirked at her, making her heart jump. 

"Because you're Catra."

She felt as if a warm and cozy blanket was wrapping her aching heart. She remembered Adora saying the same on Darla, when she asked her why did she come back to rescue her. There was more, in those words. There was everything they'd shared, every moment together, everything they'd been through. Of one thing she'd always been sure: Adore knew her, she knew her deeply. Like nobody else. That used to scare her the most, back when they were enemies. She guessed it was a blessing that Adora was so naive about Catra's feelings towards her, because she couldn’t bear her knowing the truth, at that time. 

She stepped forward and pressed her body against her girlfriend's toned one, leaning on her, forehead against forehead. It made her feel complete, at peace. Happy. 

She swallowed the familiar knot of emotions. And smirked.

"You're such an idiot."

Adora snorted.

"I love you too."

Catra had to struggle against herself to push Adora away, but she kept holding her shirt. The Horde’s uniform that she got modified by Bright Moon’s tailors, and that she had worn for so long, had finally been replaced by a white shirt with gold inserts and black leggings inside her white and gold boots. She liked her new outfit, but Adora was still a complete disaster with change, considering that she had ten identical copies of that outfit in her closet. 

Catra’s mind was dragged towards the prisoner Horde soldiers, still wearing their uniform. 

“Why did you keep wearing the uniform?”

Adora gave a start. 

“What? When?”

“Like, every time. You joined the Rebellion but you kept wearing the Horde’s uniform.”

“Well, I had the emblem removed.”

“Yeah, but you kept everything else.”

She watched her sigh and glance around with a worried expression on her pretty face. 

“I felt… uncomfortable” she confessed in a low voice, looking back at her. “I mean, Glimmer and Bow actually caught me at the beginning, tied me up and everything. And even when we found out I was She-Ra, Glimmer wasn’t exactly… friendly, not like she’s now. And everyone looked at me like I was some sort of... evil rat, here in Bright Moon, they threw arrows at me…”

Catra didn’t know how to feel, if relieved because Adora was opening up to her or because she didn’t immediately feel at home there, or to feel bad for her, guilty for not having been there for her… “I needed something to stay the same. I felt… lost.” Her bluebell eyes became glassy and suddenly Catra knew exactly hot to feel: sad. “A-and they expected me to be perfect and strong and… my world had just fallen apart and I just needed to keep something of me, of who I used to be, because otherwise I would have gone mad and I couldn’t let…”

Catra stopped that turbulent river of broken words with the tightest hug. After a moment of hesitation, Adora muted and clasped her back. She really held on to her. Catra had to hold back the tears. They were feeling the same, and they were both pretending they didn’t all the time. Once again, she felt hate towards herself. She could have helped Adora if only she had listened to her… but Prime would still be around if she did, right? They wouldn’t have saved the universe if she didn’t open that portal. So it was for the best, right? They saved lives, thousands, millions of lives. But… it wasn’t enough to erase the regret. Adora felt alone without her. How could that be so painful and reassuring at the same time?

“Is everything okay?” Scorpia’s voice startled them both. They distanced as if she’d caught them doing something wrong and looked at her. Glimmer and Bow were with her, together with Entrapta, but she was all focused on her trackpad for some reasons. 

“Yeah, fine” Adora said. Catra’s eyes fell on the bracelet around Glimmer’s wrist. 

“Is that still there?” she asked, surprised, eying Entrapta, but Bow answered for her. 

“It’s impossible to take it off without hurting Glimmer. But we’ve already tried to convince Tauro to help us, but he keeps saying that he won’t betray Wolfa. So…”

Tauro, Kara and Ophid were kept prisoners inside Darla, in separate rooms, since there was no room for them in the castle.

“She’s still sleeping” Catra said looking at him. “That sedative is strong, uh?” 

He smirked. 

“Don’t look at me, Perfuma made it. I just put it inside the arrows.”

Catra nodded. 

“Well then, maybe she can also wake her up with an antidote?”

“Oh, I have that already.” Bow took one of his arrows, pressed a button and a syringe popped out of it. Catra held back a sigh and forced herself not to roll her eyes. Because a normal syringe wasn’t enough, it had to be an arrow, of course.

“Yeah but, do you really think she’ll talk to us? She clearly hates us” Scorpia commented. 

“I…” Adora started, but then she hugged herself, her shoulder tensed, her gaze low. “I don’t think she wants to fight anymore.”

Catra clenched her jaws. So she wasn't the only one who was empathizing with Wolfa, apparently. Her mind inevitably ran to that day, when she was sure she would lose her, when she saw her surrender to her fate and managed somehow to keep Adora with her. The worst and best day of her life. It had been so intense that she could still feel all those emotions, all the fear, and the joy, then. But the fear… She looked at Adora, who was now looking at Glimmer. “I saw it in her eyes, she wants to die” she murmured, her voice trembling a little bit. Entrapta raised her eyes from the screen.

“Who wants to die?”

“Wolfa” Scorpia replied. Entrapta looked confused. 

“But Hordak says that she never surrenders. That she’s a war machine, even though I haven’t seen any mechanism in her body…”

Catra raised her ears.

“Hordak remembers about her?”

Entrapta nodded smiling at her. Regret, regret, regret.  _ _Will it ever go away?_ _

“Yes! He says she was one of the best soldiers. Look.” She tapped the pad and, after a few moments, Wrong Hordak’s face filled the screen.

“Entrapta?”

“Hi! I need to talk to Hordak, please.”

“I’m glad to help you by making you talk to my brother!” He backed a little, showing Dryl’s grey walls. Hordak was behind him, sitting cross-legged on the ground, busy repairing a robot. “Entrapta wants to talk to you, brother.”

Catra shivered. 

The image became confused, then there was only Hordak’s face. 

“Hello, Entrapta” he smiled. It was so damn weird… “We’re almost done here.”

“Awesome! Catra wants to talk to you.”

Catra gave a jump and took the screenpad that Entrapta handed her almost with horror. 

“Ah… she said you remember about Wolfa. We need to know everything about her” she spat, watching Hordak’s expression get tougher as he focused on her. 

“Wolfa was a very efficient soldier, she would have become Force Captain if I wasn’t… distracted. Her fighting skills are superior to most of the others’, and she’s very good at strategy. You should be careful around her.”

“She’s inoffensive now. She lost and she knows it. But we need her to free Glimmer from the devices they used to control her, so…”

Hordak snorted.

“You want to know her weakness? Good luck. The only thing she cares about is her mission, whatever it is.”

“There must be something we can use against her!”

“A-ehm…” Scorpia cleared her voice. Catra looked at her, noticing she was blushing. “She has a weakness, actually.”

“What is it?” Glimmer asked before she could open her mouth. 

Scorpia glanced at the pad. 

“Errr...” She gazed at Catra again, her cheeks still red, then at Adora. “I’m not sure I should say it…”

“Scorpia, just say it!” Catra sighed, handing the screenpad back to Entrapta. “Please?” she forced herself to add, gaining a lot of surprised stares. “What?” she snapped, and everyone glanced away.

“Well… you.”

Silence and confusion spread upon all of them.

“Me, what?”

“You’re her weakness. She has a massive crush on you since forever” Scorpia said rapidly, looking away then. Catra felt her cheeks burn. It couldn’t be true, right? Her gaze ran to Adora, who was looking at Scorpia in shock. 

“WHAT?!”

Scorpia raised her claws.

“Hey, don’t blame me, I’m just telling you what I know!”

Adora looked very, very upset. 

“Then why did she hit Catra so hard? You must be wrong, Scorpia…”

“Well, maybe because she knows how dangerous Catra can be and she didn’t want to die?”

Catra gave a start.

“Hey!”

Scorpia looked at her with a little guilty smile on her face. 

“It was a compliment!”

Catra snorted. 

“Sure…”

“Catra, you don’t think that Wolfa likes you, right?” Adora asked, true terror on her face. Why was she scared? 

“Hey, Adora, why so anxious?” she smirked. “Even if it’s true, it’s an advantage for us. She likes me?” It was really hard to believe (none ever liked her, especially in the Horde), but she actually saw Wolfa’s gaze change when she looked at her, so... She shrugged. “Good. It explains why she hates you so much, at least.”

“Yes, and we can use it against her” Glimmer cut in. Oh, no. Catra knew that look. She had a plan, and it was probably rubbish. “Bow, wake her up. Catra, you go inside and make her confess that…”

“Glimmer…”

“No, Bow, we have a chance to force her to help us, I won’t waste it!”

“Maybe there’s no need to hurt her,” Scorpia tried to say, “maybe I can talk to her and convince her that she was on the wrong side.”

Glimmer glared at her, startling her. 

“Have you heard Hordak? We can’t convince her!”

“No,” Adora said, surprising everyone, especially Catra. “Hordak is wrong. He said that Wolfa only cares about her mission, but that’s not true. When she realized she was defeated, she asked us not to hurt her friends. She’s not as cold as he thinks. And…” Catra met her worried eyes. “Maybe you’re the one that can make her open up a bit, it’s true, but you know that if we try to force her…”

“She’ll close even more” Catra nodded. She and Adora shared a tiny smile. 

“They finish each other’s sentences” Bow chirped. Catra ignored him and his big, shiny eyes, but Melog made themself visible and brushed against his leg, so Bow let out a squeaking noise.  _Curse you, Melog!_ They looked at her. 

“ _What? You like him_ ” they said. Catra rolled her eyes, knowing that they could feel her shame and frustration. 

“You know what we should do” Catra said to Adora, who nodded. 

“Threaten her friends.”

“But we’re not like that.”

“Exactly.”

“Not anymore, at least.”

“That’s more accurate.”

“So what do we do?”

Adora shrugged.

“I guess we improvise? We could just try to talk to her, she was cooperative when we caught her, so maybe…”

“Thank you for your consideration! What did I expect? I’m the Queen, after all, my opinion is useless.”

They all looked at Glimmer, a very frustrated Glimmer, so angry that she was pouting. 

“Glimmer, we will find a way to take those things off, I promise…” Adora was saying, but Glimmer stopped her. 

“The fastest way? Or the one that won’t make you jealous?”

Adora blushed. 

“I’m not jealous!”

“Please, Adora! It’s…”

“Your Majesty! The prisoner is awake.” The guard looked nervous when they all turned to look at him. “Y-you ordered to notify you when…”

“Thank you.” Glimmer walked inside the room without another word.

Catra shared a shocked glance with Adora and Bow, then they all rushed to join Glimmer.


	10. The prisoner

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long chapter but things needed to be said. Hope you'll enjoy reading it btw <3

Wolfa was uselessly trying to stand up. She was clearly in pain, her face, marked by Catra’s claws, was contorted in the effort to… simply breath normally. Adora felt an intense guilt weigh over her. She didn’t really want to hurt her  ___ that  _ __much. Wolfa was laying on the huge armchair that was there since Double Trouble had asked for it, the almost invisible circle of magic preventing her from running away, but she was trying to sit up.

“We’ll get you healed if you tell us how to deactivate the chip and the bracelet” Glimmer said harshly. Wolfa glowered at her. 

"Where am I?"

"Bright Moon."

"Yeah, I got that from the horrible purple furniture. I meant, you brought me to a... bedroom?"

"This is a cell." Wolfa just stared at her in silence, and she had to add: "I didn't build this place, don't look at me like it's my fault."

“The chip, Wolfa” Adora urged her.

She shook her head weakly. Her breaths were fast and trembling. 

“Ask Tauro, I know nothing about that stuff.”

“We tried,” Bow intervened, “but he said that he doesn’t want to betray you.”

“Of course” Wolfa sneered. She still looked dangerous, even now, even if Adora knew that she didn’t want to fight and that she could easily overcome her. But there was something about her… maybe it was because she seemed ready to do anything, literally anything to achieve what she wanted. “He’s not a vile traitor, after all” Wolfa continued, eying Adora now. __ _Fine_ , she thought.  _Let’s play your game_ _._

“You’re right, Wolfa” Adora said, stepping forward, surprising her a little bit.  _One point for me_ . “I defected. I left the Horde to join the Rebellion, because I found out that the Horde was a lie.”

Wolfa snarled, but it was clear that it caused her pain. 

“No, you’re lying!”

“No, Wolfa.” Adora let her emotion show on her face. “It was horrible, I see why you’re scared. Finding out that my whole life had been a lie? That the princesses were the good ones, and we the bad guys? It almost broke me.” She could feel everyone’s staring at her. Of course. She might have mentioned it with Catra, but none else knew. But Wolfa was listening to her, finally, so…

Wolfa laughed through the pain.

“The good ones? Look at me, Adora, and look at your precious Queen. If I am the evil one, why am I the one with the broken bones while she doesn't even have a scratch?”

Adora had to struggle again with the guilt. But she forced her to hurt her, they were fighting…

“Because she didn’t try to kill you.”

“Yet” Glimmer said, and Adora frowned. 

“You’re not helping.”

“She neither. I don’t want to keep this bracelet forever, I want my powers back!”

“Oh, poor Glimmer, you’re nothing without your powers, isn’t it?” Wolfa grinned. 

Glimmer approached her, fists raised. 

“Don’t push me, Wolfa.”

Adora put herself between them before that Glimmer could do something stupid. 

“Stop it, both of you! Wolfa, you’re better than this...”

Wolfa snorted. 

“You know nothing about me, Adora.”

“Then tell me something! Tell me why did you want to go to Prime’s ship!”

“To use one of his old bodies to fix the mess you've made!” she shouted, and then she wrapped her left arm around her torso with a moan. 

"Mess?” Catra repeated. “We defeated Horde Prime! We saved Etheria!"

"I didn't want you to do it! We were raised to conquer this world! I was fine with Horde Prime! No emotions, no pain!" Wolfa’s voice broke, and Adora wasn’t sure that that was just physical pain. She also noticed that Catra glanced away, and frowned. But then Catra looked back at Wolfa and snapped at her, and there she was, her Catra.

"No pain, and no joy! Did you really want to live like that?"

Wolfa gave her a sad sneer, her fangs showing. 

“There's no joy for me anyway."

And looking in her yellow eyes, in that moment she knew: Scorpia was wrong. It wasn’t just a crush. She  fell  for Catra. And Catra noticed, because she gave a start. 

"Wolfa..." Catra murmured, but the soldier looked away.

"Guess it was never meant to be. You seem to keep choosing worthless partners, Force Captain. First Scorpia, and now another princess..." Adora gave a jump.  _Scorpia?!_ "A traitor" Wolfa plowed on. The glance of pure hatred she gave to Adora made her shiver. She was pretty sure that Wolfa would have really killed her, if she had had the chance. She looked at Catra, who was staring at the floor, fists clenched, her ears lowered and her tail swaying nervously. 

“Adora is not worthless.” Catra pierced Wolfa with her stare, and the soldier looked impressed. “Adora saved me from myself, and not only now, but since we were children. Adora is brave, stronger than I’ll ever be, good, selfless, way too selfless, she never gave up on me, and I love her.” Adora was breathless. She felt her eyes sting, tears pushing to fall, but she held them back. “She saved all of us, you jerk.”

“Actually…” Catra turned to look at her in surprise. “You saved all of us, Catra. I was dying.”

She had had to tell that story to Bow and Glimmer at least three hundred times, but everytime she was touched, her voice became faint, the emotions of those moments flowing inside of her like a tornado. Catra saved the universe. She had failed. She would be dead, like Mara, if it wasn’t for Catra. “You’re wrong. You’re so much stronger than I’ll ever be.”

She saw Catra’s eyes fill with tears, but she was also smiling slightly, in a surprised way. 

“I’m just stubborn, dummy.”

Adora smiled in turn. 

“Luckily for me, you didn’t give up on me either.”

Adora had to remind herself that they were interrogating a prisoner, in theory. She forced herself to stop smiling at her girlfriend and glanced at Wolfa, ready to defend herself from another attack… but Wolfa looked just terribly sad. Resignated. And even if she averted her stare, drawing her left hand to the back of her neck, she could see tears forming in her eyes. And, even though it made her jealous, she also felt bad for her. 

“Glimmer” Adora murmured. “Can your father or Castaspella heal her wounds, at least?” When she looked at Glimmer, there was a weird expression on her face, that she couldn’t read. 

“Sure” she just said. Then she walked away, and, after giving her a weird look in turn, Bow followed her.  _What…?_ Scorpia was awkward too. But she didn’t leave, at least. 

“Look, Wolfa, I know it’s hard” Scorpia said softly, coming closer to the prisoner, who gave her an angry glance, like a trapped, wounded animal. 

“You know nothing.”

Scorpia laughed, and it was a nervous laughter, for once. Adora frowned, remembering what Wolfa had said about her and Catra. She glanced at her girlfriend, but Catra was focused on them and didn’t notice. 

“Trust me, I know better than anyone,” Scorpia replied. Adora saw Catra blush slightly. Jealousy hit her like a punch in the guts once again. “Look, I don’t get why you liked to be controlled by Prime, I mean, it was horrible, but Hordak is with us too, so what are you doing? The Horde is gone. And the Fright Zone was never your home. It was just the place where we grew up.”

Wolfa looked at her with pain and anger in her glassy eyes. 

“Maybe for you. But it was home to me. The Horde was my family.”

Adora winced, despite everything. Damn, she knew exactly what she meant. Shadow Weaver’s last smile and words crossed her mind, and she felt weak, sad, indebted to her, again, as to Angella. 

“No” Catra said, anger in her voice. Adora looked at her with mild surprise. “That was never a family, they were just cruel.”

“Maybe Shadow Weaver was” Wolfa snapped back. “But Cobalt was like a big brother to me. He was tough, yes, but he was never mean. We would spend our free time together, just having fun, and even training was fun with him.”

Adora was shocked.

“No way! Cobalt was ice cold!”

Wolfa glared at her for a moment, but there was too much sadness in her eyes for her stare to be scary. 

“Oh, please, Adora, you haven’t talked to him once outside the lessons! You didn’t know him, you don’t know me. So just shut up.” She was still aggressive, but less than before, and she kept avoiding her stare. Adora frowned. 

“Hey, maybe… she should rest, until they take care of her.” Both Catra and Scorpia looked at her, surprised.

“Yeah, you don’t look well, Wolfa…” Scorpia said. Wolfa just shut her eyes, sighing, as if she was exhausted (she probably was).

“Don’t bother to come back” she growled, but it was almost a whisper. 

“You won’t get rid of us so easily” Catra said before turning. She touched Adora’s hand with her tail while walking away, so she followed her, hearing Scorpia’s heavy steps behind her. The former Force Captain closed the door behind them, then let out a breath, puffing her cheeks. 

“Uff, Glimmer won’t be happy…”

“I promised her we would convince her, and we will. We just need something…”

“Hordak” Catra said. Adora stared at her. 

“What?”

“Yes!” Scorpia grinned. “Maybe he can convince her!”

Adora raised one eyebrow. 

“Are you serious?” 

Catra did the same. 

“Shadow Weaver had power on you. On us. Maybe Hordak has it on her. She still wears his emblem, after all.”

It wasn’t a bad idea, actually, but for some reason it made her feel uncomfortable. 

“I don’t know…”

“There’s no harm in trying” Scorpia agreed. “I mean, what else could we do?”

She had a point. Adora sighed. 

“Yeah. Why not?”

  


  


  


  


  


Wolfa sighed and forced herself to hold back the tears.  _Shit!_ Her whole body was a knot of pain. Her ribs were hurting like that time that she broke three of them falling from the sky (Glimmer’s fault), Catra’s claw marks were burning and the wound on her back hurt as if the blade was still stuck in her bone. _That damn fox-girl… what was her name? Azeria, right._ If only she wasn't there… No, she would have been defeated anyway. She was helpless against She-Ra. Her broken ribs told her so. She just pushed her against a wall, and she almost killed her. Her power was scary. The person she hated the most could kill her so easily… life was just great. She kept wondering why she didn’t do it. She hated her for sparing her. She sighed again, cautious in doing it. Every breath was a torture. Damn, she’d rather die. And seeing them interact that way… Wolfa shut her eyes, holding back another wave of tears. She never had a chance, she’d always known that, but having the confirmation of it was just too painful. It felt like her heart was shattering, burning, collapsing on itself. Why didn’t Adora kill her? She almost begged her to do it. She gave her the bloody chance to pierce her stupid heart with that sword! So why didn’t she do it? Curse her and her pity! How could Hordak think she was a good soldier was a mystery. 

The door opened again, and a woman entered the room. Wolfa didn’t know her, but her face looked somehow familiar. 

She came close, looking at her in a way she didn’t like.

“Who are you?” Wolfa asked without moving. She didn’t have the strength to do it. The talk with the rebels, seeing Catra look at Adora that way, had left her weary. 

“My name is Castaspella. I’m the head sorceress of Mystacor. And Glimmer’s aunt.”

Oh, that’s why she looked so familiar. She gave her another glance. 

“Is there anyone in your family who doesn’t use magic?”

Castaspella smirked but her eyes stayed cold. 

“No. Now, I will come in. Don’t do anything stupid unless you want to be paralyzed by a spell. It’s not pleasing, trust me.”

Wolfa snorted. 

“I could cut your throat before you could say a word.”

“And where would it lead you? To an execution.”

Wolfa narrowed her eyes. 

“I’m not afraid to die. I have nothing to lose.”

“What about your friends? Don’t you care about them?”

“They don’t need me.”

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely. They’re good soldiers, they will be just fine.”

“All soldiers need a leader.”

“That doesn't mean that it should be me.”

“Uhm…” Castaspella. She drew something in the air and a complicated, light-blue circle of light appeared. She then threw it towards Wolfa, and when it hit her she felt… immobilized. She forced herself to keep calm. She could still move her eyes and her mouth.

“It doesn’t hurt at all” Wolfa noted. Castaspella entered her cell. 

“I never said it would hurt, just that it wouldn’t be pleasing.”

“Right. My bad.”

The woman gave her a surprised glance. 

“Uh. Interesting.”

“What?” Wolfa spat. Castaspella lifted her with her magic. Her heart rate accelerated. She was right: it was terrifying. She felt completely helpless. 

“You can admit you were wrong. It’s a good thing.”

“I’m not an idiot.”

“Well, you’re fighting for an army that no longer exists. You’re not as smart as you think.”

She was doing something, in the meantime. She could feel her skin and bones sting a little bit. 

“I… the Horde will rise again…” she said, her voice uncertain, but she had to believe it, or her whole life was useless. 

“Nah, I don’t think so. You’re the only ones that still want that, and, let me tell you, it’s crazy.”

“I’m not crazy!”

“But you’re not listening. You’re fighting for nothing.”

“I’m fighting for myself!” she shouted. “To get my life back!”

“Your life was murdering innocent people because a clone wanted to impress the one who created him!”

“Lord Hordak was more than this!”

“Whatever you think he was, he’s no more! He’s one of us, now, even if I don’t agree with that…”

Her disapproval was showing in her voice. Wolfa laughed, even if it hurt, even if there was nothing to laugh for. 

“I’ll believe it when I see it.”

“Oh, you will.” Castaspella slammed her down on the armchair again, leaving her breathless. She was about to heal the scratches on her face, but Wolfa stopped her.

“NO!” The sorceress looked down at her in confusion. “Don’t heal them. They’re just scratches, they’ll heal on their own.”

The woman looked dubious, but she lowered her hand. 

“Fine. We’re done.” She exited the cell and then freed her from the spell. Wolfa let out a small sigh of relief and sat up. She still felt sore, but she could breath at least. Castaspella went away without another word, leaving her alone with the guards. Wolfa laid again on the chair. So she would meet Lord Hordak. She let out a trembling breath. 

  


  


  


  


  


“Hey, Glimmer.”

The Queen of Bright Moon turned and gave her a surprised gaze.

“Seriously, Catra? Since when you’re not calling me ‘Sparkles’? I’m almost worried…” The smile that was forming on her lips faded away quickly. Catra looked so… vulnerable. She kept rubbing the back of her neck, her tail was swaying nervously and her ears were flat. Glimmer walked to her, hating that bracelet that didn’t let her teleport. “What happened?”

Catra’s stare darted away. 

“Uh… nothing, I just… I never…” She sighed, then stopped rubbing her neck, and then she hugged herself. Glimmer frowned, confused, because Adora wasn’t around and Catra showed her fragility only when she was around, so what the hell was she doing? “I know that it’s too late and that it means nothing, but I, uh, I really need you to know it…”

Glimmer sighed.

“Catra, if you stole from the tailoring again it’s okay, I mean, there’s no need to do it but…”

Catra’s eyes met hers for less than a second, she wagged again her long, dark brown tail. 

“It’s not that. It’s…” Catra looked at her again and she thought she saw fear in her eyes. But she had to be wrong, maybe it was just embarrassment, because, Catra being afraid of her? Impossible. And why, then? “Why don’t you hate me?”

Glimmer narrowed her eyes. 

“Is that a real question?”

“Yes!” Catra spat, finally aggressive again. Now she recognized her former enemy! “You should be mad at me! I played your game because we had more important things to do…”  _Game? What game?_ “... but now all we must do now is wait and we must face this!”

“Face what?” Glimmer shouted, rattled now. 

“The fact that I killed your mother!” Catra blurted out, her face contorted by regret and fear, tears in her eyes. She stepped back, but Glimmer was calmer, now. Sadness filled her, but… did she blame Catra for that? Did she ever? In all honesty, she didn’t. She had blamed Adora for it, but it was just her pain talking. She missed her mom so much, and she regretted all the fights they had, but those were also a part of her, of them, so she cherished them, too. Angella sacrificed herself. It had been her choice, she had saved Adora and all of them. And, yes, it was Catra that pulled that lever, but she wasn’t exactly thinking straight. Just like her, when she chose to use the Heart of Etheria. Catra was impulsive, and maybe that’s why she always felt that bond between them, and that’s why it had been so easy to find a connection with her on Prime’s ship. Obviously, she’d rather she didn’t pull that lever, and nothing could ever erase the truth: because she did it, her mother died. But Adora could’ve died instead. It had been Angella’s choice, ultimately, not Catra’s. And she was proud of her mother, even if it hurt. 

“I don’t hate you” she said, and Catra widened her eyes. She tried putting a hand on her shoulder but she hissed and slapped it, backing away. 

“Why not?! Don’t you care? It was your mother! I would have given everything to have one!” Tears rushed down Catra’s cheeks. It was actually painful to see her suffer like that. She was her friend, now, despite everything. 

“Of course I care. I miss her everyday, sometimes I feel lost without her.” Glimmer’s voice cracked a bit, but she kept it cool. “But I forgave you, Catra. I know you weren’t yourself when you did it, I know everything you’ve been through and…” She had to sigh again to remember herself to breathe. Catra was staring at her with pure disbelief on her face. “I just can’t fully blame you for that. She chose to sacrifice to save us, and, honestly, she did the right thing. Adora would have died, if she didn’t, and honestly I don’t know if I would have ever forgiven her if she’d let that happen. She was brave, and I’m proud of her. Now I know who she really was. Now I can look up to her.” Glimmer tried to swallow back the tears, but some escaped and she wiped them promptly. She had to blink to clear her vision, and she realized that Catra was sobbing now, covering her mouth with her right hand, the other arm wrapped around her waist. 

“I’m sorry, Glimmer” she said while crying. “I’m so sorry! I don’t deserve any of this…”

Glimmer couldn’t stand it anymore, and even though she knew that Catra hated to be touched, she reached out and hugged her tight. She was shaking in her arms now, but she didn’t push her away. 

“Did you even listen to me?” she tried smiling through the tears. Catra let out a sort of laughter mixed with a sob. 

“I did, but I don’t agree with you!”

“What? You can’t disagree with my emotions!”

They both laughed crying. It wasn’t bad at all to hug her. The pain was still there, it would always be there, but helping Catra was actually helping herself. She did horrible things, too. They weren’t so different. Since she realized that Catra was in love with Adora, she had wondered how she would act if she was in her shoes. If she had grown up in the Fright Zone with Shadow Weaver, if Bow had left her back for new friends that were their enemies (they all knew how she reacted at the prom just because he chose to go there with Perfuma), if she’d lost everything she cared about. She didn’t think she was any better than Catra. That’s why she would never judge her.

It took a while before that Catra finally gained back control and pushed her away.

“I hate you, Sparkles!” 

Glimmer chuckled. They shared a stare, Catra’s softened. “Thank you” she muttered. Glimmer smiled at her. 

“Don’t thank me, Horde scum, help me take these devices off instead! That girl is totally into you and you and Adora are being all lovey-dovey in front of her! That’s what I call cruelty.”

Catra widened her eyes.

“We’re not… we weren’t…”

Glimmer lifted one eyebrow. Catra shut her mouth, then she sighed. 

“I don’t want to hurt Wolfa. I’m just trying to be better, and showing my feelings is a part of the process. According to Perfuma, at least.”

“And you’re doing great, really.”

“I know, thanks.”

They both smirked. Then Glimmer’s stomach growled.

“I really need to eat something, Bow’s already in the kitchens… wanna come?”

Catra hesitated. 

“Ehm… No. I mean, thank you, but I think that it’s better if I don’t.”

Glimmer frowned. 

“Why?”

Catra sneered. Guilty. 

“I might have had a small disagreement with the cook a couple of weeks ago.” Glimmer stared at her silently, and she continued between gritted teeth. “I might also have scratched his face. Just a bit.”

Glimmer sighed and rubbed her face with a hand.

“Catraaaaaa!”

She grinned again. 

“Sorry? But he was a jerk, he wanted to give me pet food and he called me Horde scum!”

“I call you that all the time!”

“Not that way!”

“Well… alright, maybe I can talk to him. Pet food?” she asked then in disbelief. “Really? That’s… urgh, perhaps I’ll have to fire him.”

“He’d deserve it” Catra muttered. She could tell that she was really upset, even if time had passed. 

“Why didn’t you tell me before?”

Catra shrugged, glancing away. 

“I’m used to sort things out on my own.”  _ _Right_ _ _._

“I know, Catra, but I’m the Queen. I need to know what happens in my castle. And I won’t tolerate this kind of behavior. The war was terrible, but you’re one of us, and none has the right to treat you like that. We all owe you a lot, and they must understand that you saved their life, too.” 

Catra was blushing. 

“I didn’t…”

“No, Catra, you did. Adora told us what happened a thousand times,  ___ you  _ __saved her. If you didn’t, we’d all be dead. It’s time to make sure that everybody knows it.” She turned and marched towards the kitchens, leaving Catra there, confused and astonished. She would make the cook realize that Catra had turned into a hero, and then the voice would spread like pollen on a spring, windy day, and everyone would pay her friend the respect she deserved.

  


  


  


  


  


  


The bedroom’s balcony wasn’t as familiar as their spot on the roof, but it was high enough, and the sight was beautiful. Much better than the Fright Zone. Not that she would ever admit it. 

Melog was nervously walking up and down the room even if she looked relaxed. The talk with Glimmer had been… intense. She didn’t actually expect any of that. She thought that she would finally lash out at her, that she would tell her what a horrible, mean and pointless person she was. Instead, Glimmer forgave her. How could they forgive that easily? She’d done so many horrible things, and it seemed like they just didn’t care about it. It would be so easy to bask in their warm forgiveness… but that would mean not facing what she’d done. That would mean to stay the same, and she didn’t want that. She wanted to be better, for all of them because she owed them, for herself, because she needed it, and mostly for Adora, who was now standing beside her, shoulder to shoulder with her. She glanced at her profile in the orange light of the sun slowly reaching the horizon. Unknown magical creatures were crossing the painting of the sky, beautiful, with huge, multi-colored wings and long tails, and a light wind had moved a couple of locks from her hair poof that now fell free over her temple and forehead. Catra’d always seen how beautiful she was, even when she was too young to call it attraction yet, but now… She was absolutely stunning. There was a different light in her eyes, something  more , that made her breathtaking. She’d always loved her, but Adora wasn’t the same that she was in the Fright Zone now, and she loved this Adora even more, even if she could tell that she was still holding something back. She was still trying to keep everything under her control, to be the hero, the one who had to save the day. 

Adora kept staring at the Moonstone, and she let her think. Catra knew she was up to something, and that she needed time to elaborate it. The line between her eyebrows and her narrowed eyes told her so. But she was surprised when Adora’s voice came out low, insecure.

“So… you and Scorpia…”

Catra widened her eyes. She didn’t see this coming. She thought she was planning something, a way to make Wolfa help Glimmer. 

“What?! No!” she laughed. “Are you even listening to a jealous enemy? Scorpia had a crush on me, but all I could think about was  you , idiot.”

Adora smirked, visibly relaxed. Was really that what she’d been thinking about all along?

“It sounded weird. I mean, she’s not exactly your type” Adora said, and Catra had to hold back laughter.

“Oh, really? Why?”

“Well, she’s… a bit too exuberant.”

Catra snorted, trying to hold back laughter. 

“But she’s taller than you.”

Adora literally panicked in front of her. 

“Only when I’m not She-Ra!”

Catra laughed hard. 

“I can’t believe you bought it!”

Adora glared and went back staring at the Moonstone. 

“That was a low blow.”

Catra couldn’t help but laugh again, harder. Adora wanted to pretend to be upset, but she just couldn’t, and soon she laughed in turn. Then they both stayed silent, their shoulders touching while the sun went down. It was Adora again to talk first.

“Do you ever miss her?”

“Who?”

Adora hesitated for a moment.

“Shadow Weaver.”

Oh. So she hadn’t been thinking about her and Scorpia all the time. She looked at her girlfriend, noticing how conflicted she looked. 

“Well… no.” But Adora did, it was clear. She watched her clench her jaw. 

“Wolfa is right. I was totally irresponsible. I always got you in trouble…”

“No, Adora!” Catra turned and cupped her face. “First of all, I put you in trouble all the time, and second, we were just kids. We just wanted to have fun.” Oh, how much she had missed those days when they were enemies… But now she didn’t. The present was so much better. 

“But she would punish only you, and I knew it…”

“Yes, and you tried to protect me every single time. Adora, Shadow Weaver…” Catra hesitated. Did she have to tell her? If not now, when? “I hate how much pressure she put on you. She hurt you, too.”

She saw Adora wail, she blinked repeatedly. She saw how lost she was, in that moment, and all she wanted was to hug her and tell her that everything was fine, but it wasn’t. She had to face it, or she wouldn’t stop feeling an instrument, and she knew she still felt that way.

“She… I know she hurt both of us, okay? But… she just wanted me to be better, to be a good soldier, a Force Captain, and then…”

Catra sighed and rested her forehead against hers. 

“You never needed to be better.”

“B-but… she sacrificed for us...”

“Yeah, and she said ‘you’re welcome’, like we owe her some big favor! But we owe her nothing but… pain and mistakes” she spat. Gah, she still hated her. She’d never stop hating her, probably. Hearing her say that she was proud of her meant much, of course, and watching her die to give them a chance had been painful, but it couldn’t erase everything she put them through. 

Adora opened her mouth to speak, but then she closed it. She was still conflicted, she could see it in her gorgeous eyes. But she was starting to see the truth. Catra caressed her face, but it wasn’t enough, so she hugged her tight, breathing her scent, enjoying the solidity of her body pressed against her own. 

“Nothing really bad can happen as long as we have each other” Catra whispered, holding back the tears. Adora tightened her grip on her. 

“You promise?”

Catra smiled. 

“I promise.”


	11. Who you really are

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Sorry, I'm late, I didn't have the time to update these days :/ Hope you'll enjoy the chapter anyways <3

When Glimmer called them for a meeting, the morning after, Adora thought they would talk about Wolfa and the other prisoners. She was wrong.

Glimmer and Bow were hugging when she, Catra and Melog entered the room. The seats were all empty, and it was in contrast with the meeting Adora had imagined. Glimmer turned to look at them, and she saw tears in her eyes. The Queen disappeared and reappeared immediately in front of them, surrounded by sparkles.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know what happened to me… I’m tired, I want these things to fall off, and Wolfa makes me really nervous. I didn’t want to snap at you, you’re my friends, my best friends…” 

Adora was speechless. 

“Glimmer…”

“No! I was mean and stupid! I need to apologize to you. Both of you,” she said looking at Catra now, who was staring at her with her eyes wide open and her ears flat against her head. “I’m sorry I blamed you for Bow’s party. You’re funny, and smart, and you’re helping me a lot lately, actually.” 

Catra blushed.

“Sparkles, there’s no need, really, especially after…”

“ That doesn’t change the fact that you didn’t deserve the way I treated you that night.”

Adora had no idea of what they were talking about but she just couldn’t hold herself anymore and hugged Glimmer, shutting her eyes, touched, when Glimmer held her close.

“Stop it. You’re my best friend, Glimmer, I know you” she murmured, and smirked. “I swear I will make them free you from the chip and the bracelet, whatever it takes. I just don’t want you to regret your actions.” 

Glimmer pushed her away, but only to look her in the eyes. 

“I know, please, don’t apologize for protecting me. I’m the one in the wrong. You did the right thing.”

Adora felt her eyes fill with tears.

“I…” She had to clear her throat. “I promised your mother I would keep you safe.” Glimmer widened her eyes but she continued: “I failed, they caught you under my nose, but I won’t let them change you. I know you can be… impulsive, sometimes…”

Glimmer snorted. 

“Like, always.”

They both laughed, and Adora felt a bit better, the tension had vanished.

“I’m sorry I didn’t help you. You’re like a sister to me, Glimmer, I don’t want to let you down, it’s just…”

Glimmer stopped the flow of words with another tight hug. 

“You need time for yourself, Adora. You’ve given enough, I’m sorry I put that too on your shoulders. And I love you too.”

Adora almost burst in tears. Almost. She met Catra’s eyes, and noticed how happy she looked now. They smiled at each other right before that she hugged Glimmer in turn, startling the Queen, who looked at her in astonishment. Catra rolled her eyes.

“It’s not because I like you, Sparkles, I’m doing it only for Adora.”

But Melog climbed over Glimmer and licked her face purring, and she let out a delighted laughter.

And then Bow joined the hug grinning. 

“BEST FRIENDS SQUAD FOREVER!”

  


  


  


  


Wolfa heard the door open again and sat up. She widened her eyes and her hair stood on end on the back of her head. She jumped down from the armchair and kneeled. 

“Lord Hordak” she hailed him, bowing her head. Hordak walked to the cell, stopping a mere inch from the magical barrier. Behind him, Catra, Adora, Glimmer, Bow and Entrapta and that weird cat-like creature stood back, silently watching.

“Stand up, Wolfa. And it’s just Hordak.”

Wolfa shivered hearing again his deep voice, the sweetness in it was like a stab in the guts. She did as he ordered, chaos in her mind. She noticed that his blue hair was white now, messy, falling almost over his green eyes, that were red once. He looked so different, not only physically. His stare was different. He was looking at her almost with… compassion?

“What’s going on?” she whispered, disoriented. 

“You’re free, Wolfa. The Horde is gone, you don’t have to fight anymore.”

She held back the tears of fear that were forming. 

“But the Horde is everything to me…” She hated how weak her voice sounded. 

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have used you.” He turned, and by their expressions she realized he was looking at Catra and Adora. “Any of you. I was selfish and… cruel. All I cared about was to impress my br… Horde Prime.” 

Wolfa saw Catra and Adora widen their eyes. Yeah, she didn’t see that coming either. 

“No, you wanted to rule on Etheria, to fight the princesses…”

Hordak turned to look at her. 

“Yes. Only to show him I was worthy.”

Wolfa was breathless. She stepped back. 

“Father…” She saw Hordak give a start through the veil of her tears. “Please, don’t say that.”

He put his hand on the barrier. 

“I’ve always liked you, Wolfa. When your parents sold you to me, telling me you weren’t as strong as your siblings, I saw myself in you.” Wolfa stayed still. She didn’t care about her parents, they were never her family. She was five when they threw her away, selling her like an useless item, and since then she’d always seen the Horde like her family, the Fright Zone like her home. “And when you grew up stronger than almost any other cadet, and fierce, I was proud of you.” She shivered, struggling to hold back the tears. “But you shouldn’t be proud of me. I lied to you, always. The princesses were never a threat, we were.”

“No…” Wolfa made another step back, stumbling on the seat. A tear escaped her control. “You’re lying.”

“Why should I? I’m telling you the truth, Wolfa. It was hard to admit it even to myself, but Entrapta showed me the way.” She saw him smile with so much love in his eyes that it nauseated her. “Let yourself be…”

“NO!” she shouted, and jumped against the magic wall and punched it with all her strength. “SHUT UP!”

“Wolfa...”

“GO AWAY! I DON’T WANT TO SEE YOU EVER AGAIN!” Tears were flowing all over her face. “GO AWAY, NOW! LEAVE ME ALONE!” she cried, hurting her throat, but she didn’t care. Hordak backed away, hesitating. “NOW!”

He gave one last, useless, apologizing glance, then he left with the others, and as the door closed she crumbled on the floor sobbing uncontrollably. 

  


  


  


  


  


  


Catra was shocked. She kept looking at Hordak, a bit nervous, because despite the change of outfit (he was now wearing purple and grey coveralls, with oil stains everywhere), he still looked a lot like the clone he was. She never thought about him like a father. Maybe because he never acted like one, at least with her. Not that she knew how a father would act, except… 

Micah (you speak of the devil…) was running to them. He stopped before his daughter. 

“Did she accept to help you?”

Glimmer sighed. 

“She’s… having a hard time, now. We should give her a little bit of time, I guess.”   
Catra saw Adora and Bow share a smirk. Also, she noticed that Entrapta was holding Hordak’s hand. With her hand, not with her hair. Her hair was actually hugging him. 

“Do you think that I could use her emotional breakdown for my social studies?” she was whispering to him. She saw him shrug. 

“I don’t see why not.”

Entrapta grinned and her hair started tapping on one of her devices. Really, those two together were the weirdest thing ever. After hearing someone call Hordak “father”. 

Hordak looked a bit disheartened, despite Entrapta’s enthusiasm. So did he  ___ really _ care about Wolfa? From what they said, he basically raised her. Mpf, she couldn’t imagine him feeding a baby. He probably just used to meet her to acknowledge her progress, if it ever happened. 

She felt a light nudge hit her ribs and met Adora’s eyes. 

‘Father?’ she mouthed, and then she grimaced, shocked, almost making her laugh. 

“I know” Catra whispered, shrugging then. “Crazy, right?” 

“Well, not too much, I hope. Maybe I could cast a spell on her and…” Micah was saying in the meantime. 

“No, dad, really, there’s no need. Not yet, at least. Maybe she’ll understand, this time. I don’t want to force her to do anything, that’s not how you turn an enemy into a friend.”

Catra gave a start. 

“Is that what you want to do?”

Glimmer looked at her frowning. 

“I’m just saying we should give her a chance. Even if she’s scary and… violent.”

Catra blushed a little bit. 

“She… she doesn’t look willing to become a friend of us, Sparkles…”

“You didn’t, either. Nor Scorpia, at the beginning, not to mention Hordak” she said, motioning at the clone. Okay, she had a point. 

“I know, but…” For some reason, the idea of Wolfa free to roam around Bright Moon made her nervous. Maybe because there was a high probability that she would try to kill Adora. “I don’t know. Would you feel safe?”

Glimmer hesitated. 

“She must show us she’s changed, of course.”

“She could manipulate us.”

“No,” Hordak said, making them look at him, “Wolfa can be ruthless, but she’s not a liar. I think she’s incapable of lying, actually. She got herself in trouble many times because of this.”

Adora stepped towards him. 

“What do you mean?”

“Like when she and her team broke the rules and went outside after curfew to play. Shadow Weaver caught them. Wolfa could have lied, inventing…”

“That the door malfunctioned and locked them outside” Catra automatically said, gaining a glance from Hordak and a smirk from Adora. The former leader of the Horde nodded.

“Instead, she said that they wanted to play outside. And she also insisted on being the only one to get punished, because she was the elder and so she was responsible for her teammates.”

“And Shadow Weaver told you all these things?” Catra snorted. 

Hordak nodded. 

“I asked her to keep me informed about Wolfa. I was harsh with you, so I understand if you won’t believe me, but I always cared about that girl.”

Catra let out a sigh. 

“It’s creepy, but I guess I believe you. Anyway, she’s not a total mess, I got it. Let’s give her another minute and then we can try again. But what do we do if she doesn’t cooperate?”

“Nothing” Adora said, gazing at her. “We must show her that she has a choice. That we are on the same side, even if she can’t accept it yet.”

Bow’s face lit up. 

“Yes! She seems a good friend to her fellow soldiers, so maybe, if we show her that we’re good friends too…”

“I spent some time with her,” Glimmer said, “maybe I can convince her, if I’m not aggressive. I don’t like the idea, but… I don’t think she ever wanted to hurt me, actually. She doesn’t look evil, just… desperate.”

Adora nodded. 

“I think she is. She’s lost everything…” She glanced at Catra, who glared at her. 

“Stop comparing me to her! She’s a bit like you actually, you know?”

Adora widened her eyes. 

“WHAT?!”

“Maybe a bit like both of you” Bow intervened. “But she’s actually very different from you, you know? You never liked the Horde, just to say one.”

Adora gave her another nervous glance, but Catra smiled. 

“Right. We hated the Fright Zone. All we wanted was to leave that place.”

Adora seemed calmer now. 

“True. But she’s not so different, Bow. When I left the Horde, I felt like a piece of me was ripped away from me. It’s…” Catra watched her struggle to find the words. “It’s hard to explain, but when you grow up there…” 

Bow leaned a hand on her shoulder, smiling at her. 

“I know, Adora. I was always mesmerized by your strength. You adapted so quickly to… you know, us, this” he laughed, waving the other hand as to point at the whole castle. “But I could see you were conflicted. It must be hard to be raised as a soldier instead than as a child. I am lucky to be loved so much by my fathers. I don’t know what I would be if I was raised in the Fright Zone.”

Against her will, Catra felt her eyes fill with tears.  _Curse you, Bow!_ Melog went close to her and she caressed their head when they bumped it gently against her hand. 

“You would be just like this, Bow. I’m sure nothing could change you. You’re too good” Adora smiled, and she could hear it in her voice that she was holding back the tears, too. They hugged, and Catra took advantage of their distraction to dry her eyes. 

“Gah, you’re making me sick. I need to scratch something.” They laughed, even Glimmer, who was probably listening since the beginning of that awkward conversation. “Do you think that the big bad wolf has had enough time to cry?” 

Adora stopped laughing. 

“How would you know she’s crying?”

Catra lowered her ears, looking at her like the idiot she was, and pointed at them. Adora widened her eyes. 

“Oh, right. So she can hear us, too” she noted, blushing. “And better? Her ears are bigger…”

“I’m sure she appreciates our honesty.”

  


  


  


  


  


  


Wolfa looked devastated. She was hugging her legs, sitting on the floor, pressed against the armchair. Her eyes were red, swollen. She didn’t even move when they entered the room. 

“Wolfa” Adora started, getting closer to the cell. “I know you’re going through a lot, but…”

“Where’s Tauro?” Her voice was hoarse. She still wasn’t looking up at her, she kept staring at the floor. 

“On the spaceship. With the others.”

Wolfa nodded weakly and she finally looked at her. She really looked broken. 

“Bring him here, or… I don’t know, I need to talk to him, or he won’t help you.”

Adora nodded and tried to smile at her. 

“Thank you.”

Wolfa moved her stare on Catra, who was just a few steps behind her. All Adora saw in her pale-yellow eyes was pain. Then she gazed down, hiding again. 

Glimmer glanced at Entrapta, who gave a little jump and then tapped on her screenpad before announcing: “They’re gonna bring him here!”

A few minutes later, two guards brought the prisoner inside the room. Tauro immediately set his eyes on Wolfa.

“Wolfa! What did they do to you? Oh my, you’re hurt!” he shouted hysterically. Wolfa stood up slowly. 

“I’m fine, T…”

“No, you’re hurt! What did you do to her?”

“Tauro…”

“I swear I’m gonna kill you all if…”

“SOLDIER!” Wolfa growled, and he shut up, looking at her with his blue eyes wide open, his back straight. But that cry seemed to drain all of the strength that Wolfa had left, because she leaned on the armchair. “We’ve lost. There’s nothing to fight for.”

“But…”

“No, Tauro. Deactivate the devices, free the Queen.”

“But Wolfa, we…”

“It’s pointless, T. We don’t need her powers anymore.”

The two looked at each other for a long moment before that the boy turned to look at Glimmer. 

“I… I need some instruments…”

Glimmer glanced at Entrapta. 

“Entrapta can borrow you some, isn’t it?”

Entrapta activated her recorder. 

“Bright Moon, social experiment number twenty-one, day three. I’m going to have another lab partner!” she squeaked. Tauro looked frightened, Wolfa raised one eyebrow. Adora was used to Entrapta’s enthusiasm now, so she barely noticed. After all, she was focused on Wolfa. 

“Glimmer,” she said, gaining the Queen’s attention, “I don’t think we need this cell anymore.” Wolfa stared at her in pure astonishment. 

“Right.” Glimmer looked at her father, who drew light-blue signs in the air and the cylindrical wall fell. Wolfa stayed still, short, fast breaths moving her chest. “Will you be fine without me for a while?” the Queen asked. Adora smiled at her. 

“Go get that thing off.”

Glimmer smirked, grabbed Entrapta and Tauro and brought them away from there. 

When Adora turned again, Wolfa, still leaning on the armchair, was staring at Catra.  __ _Don’t be jealous, don’t be jealous…_

“This is… tactically incorrect” Wolfa mumbled. Adora snorted. 

“As helping Glimmer, but you did it anyway.”

Wolfa looked back at her. She seemed about to say something, but then she closed her mouth and glanced down. 

Catra went next to Adora, slightly touching her shoulder with hers. 

“Hey, are you hungry? There’s lots of food here. And not even one ration bar!”

Wolfa looked embarrassed. 

“I… uh…”

Scorpia ran inside the room in that moment, sliding on the floor, then she grinned at Wolfa. 

“I heard you changed your mind!” she exulted. Wolfa widened her eyes.

“Actually, I just…” But she didn’t have the time to finish the sentence because Scorpia walked to her and hugged her tight, lifting her from the ground. 

“I’m so happy that we’re friends again!”

“I’m not your friend!”

“I missed you so much!” 

Wolfa turned scarlet and tried to wriggle out but Scorpia’s pincers held her in place. Adora was trying with all herself not to laugh at her horrified face. 

“Let me go, you… you…” But, apparently, she couldn’t insult Scorpia when she was hugging her so tightly. “Just put me down” she said quietly. Scorpia noticed the change in her voice and did as she asked. 

“I’m sorry, you know I’m a hugger…”

Wolfa glared at her, but she didn’t look convincing. 

“Don’t talk to me like we’re friends, stupid crab, because we’re not. I kicked you out of my team, remember?”

Scorpia’s shoulders lowered a little. 

“Yes, but now…”

“No” Wolfa snarled. “Things haven’t changed. I don’t want you around.”

“Hey, don’t talk to her like that,” Catra snapped. “She’s the best friend you could ever ask for, and you’re a moron if you can’t see it!”

Scorpia widened her eyes. 

“Oh really? Just a friend?” Wolfa growled. 

“Yes, a friend. But not ‘just’ a friend, the most patient, caring and supportive friend ever. So you’d better think twice, Wolfa.” Catra was speaking without looking at Scorpia, who was weeping with incredulity in her dark eyes, her claws joined in front of her mouth. Adora was quite surprised too. Catra was opening up a lot lately. Much more than she thought possible. 

Wolfa looked shocked. Catra caught her off guard, too. 

“What happened to you?” she murmured. Catra clenched her jaw. 

“I grew up. You should, too.”

Wolfa gritted her teeth for a moment, but she stayed silent. Adora felt immensely proud of Catra and caressed her back, making her look at her. 

“So, about that food…”

Catra smirked. 

“Yeah, let’s go before you start freaking out.”

“I don’t… okay, maybe just a little bit, but it’s really good!”

“It’s normal food, Adora.”

“Ration bars were our normal food!”

“Are you kidding me? I barely touched those things” Wolfa grimaced. “Contraband food was much better!”

“Why did everyone know about this but me?” Adora blurted out, making Catra laugh hard. And she smiled: it was definitely the best sound in the whole universe.


	12. Of love and friendship

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the kudos, guys, they make my day! I would love to read what you think about the story, so feel free to leave a comment if you wish! <3  
> This is going to be a fluffy, soft chapter, to soothe my soul (and yours, I hope!) :*

Catra took the large grey-green metal box, huffing and puffing in the effort to raise it (gah, she had to get back to training, she was becoming weak), and moved it to the side of their bed. The bed she was sharing with Adora,  _romantically_ . It was still crazy to think it was real. 

She shook her head, sending away those silly thoughts, and opened the Horde’s box. All of her stuff was there. Her whole, past life. She started taking out her things (she had a lot, but Scorpia did an excellent job storing them in the box that had just arrived from the Fright Zone. With all those plants it had been hard to go there and clean the place). Under all the gloves, the boots, the helmet she never used, the armor, the weapons that she hoped she would never have to use again, she found something Scorpia had put in with evident care. Three pictures, one next to the other. She picked one. She was sitting between Scorpia and Entrapta, with her legs spread and a pissed off face. She pulled her claws out without realizing it, her ears flat against her head. She remembered those days clearly. She remembered everything, but she’d rather not. She hated _that_ Catra, the one who never smiled in those pictures. The one who could only snap at Scorpia when she was just kind to her. The one who sent Entrapta to die on the Beasts Island. 

She let go of the picture before she could ruin it. Because that’s what she did, right? Ruining. People, herself. The world. 

She crumbled and started crying all at once, her body collapsing under the weight of what she’d done. Melog leapt up and cuddled her, purring.

It took some time before she stopped. She secretly thanked Glimmer for keeping Adora busy with another meeting to talk about Azeria with Netossa. She skipped that one, knowing that her presence wasn’t necessary (Azeria didn’t seem a real threat, just a little mystery: she came out of nowhere and helped them take Wolfa down, and then she disappeared again).

She didn’t want Adora there, now. She needed space, time to think. She needed… to make it up to Scorpia and Entrapta. She needed a new picture, she realized. She really wanted a new picture, and she wanted to smile and yeah, even hug her friends. She shivered thinking that dangerous word. Friends. It was all incredible. She had friends. She had Adora. She was happy. Wolfa was starting to trust them. Glimmer was safe. She even managed to tell Scorpia what she thought about her, but… she really needed to talk to her, alone, face to face. And with Entrapta, too. She was tired of hiding her feelings. She wasn’t in the Horde anymore, there was no need to keep doing it. 

“I think it’s time, Melog” she whispered. They agreed, so she stood up, wiped her face and walked out of the bedroom, looking for her friends.

She found them in the gardens, together with Hordak, Perfuma and Emily. The robot hailed her first with a high beep.

“Hi, Emily.” That’s when they realized she was there. Perfuma smiled at her. 

“Catra, I was wondering where you were hiding…”

“I wasn’t hiding” she automatically hissed. _Okay, no. Breathe. You’re just nervous._ “Sorry. I wasn’t hiding, I just needed a moment.” 

Perfuma kept smiling at her. 

“You’re making great progress. I’m so proud of you!”

Catra gulped and blushed. 

“Yeah, thanks... “ She eyed Scorpia, who was looking at her like she was the cutest thing in the world. Entrapta was fixing something of a piece of a robot that Hordak was holding for her. “Uhm… Entrapta, Scorpia...” They both looked at her in surprise. Entrapta more, probably because she didn’t notice she was there, yet. Catra found herself in lack of words. She glanced at Emily. “I was thinking… maybe we should, you know, take another picture together? Because…”

“That would be great!” Scorpia grinned. “Emily, can you take a picture?”

The robot said yes in its own way. Perfuma was smiling widely. 

“If only Bow was here…”

Catra shook her head.

“Oh no, he would start squeaking like a drunken mouse!”

Scorpia and Entrapta moved next to her, Scorpia put a pincer around her shoulders. Catra tensed, at the beginning, but then she forced herself to relax. It was Scorpia. Her friend. She looked up at her, meeting her touched gaze. She smiled at her and wrapped her waist with her left arm, shocking her. She did the same with Entrapta, and then leaned her head on Scorpia’s arm, looking at Emily but talking to them in low voice.

“Hey, I just wanted to tell you… I’m happy that we’re friends. I’m sorry I was a bad one, before. I promise I’ll be better.”

She felt Scorpia shake.

“This is the best day of my life!”

Entrapta looked at her. 

“I’m happy we’re friends too” she said. Catra smiled at her, feeling emotional (and it was a good sensation), then Emily beeped and asked for their attention. 

Catra smiled, looking directly at the robot’s eye and pulling her friends closer. And when the picture came out from a slot on the top of Emily and Perfuma took it and showed it to them smiling, she grinned: there it was. Exactly the photo she wanted, where she was smiling and hugging her best friends, where Scorpia looked overjoyed, her eyes shining, and Entrapta looked excited as always. The perfect picture of the Super Pal Trio. 

“Let’s take more!” Entrapta shouted.

  


  


  


  


  


“So she just disappeared? Like that?”

“None has seen her since we came back from Dryl.”

“How is that even possible?”

Adora didn’t know. Azeria was out of her sight for 30 seconds and she just disappeared into thin air.

“She does that,” Netossa said. “But I’ve heard that she lives in Plumeria, so maybe we should ask Perfuma if she knows her.”

“Why? I mean, she helped us, if she wants to be on her own, where’s the problem?” Adora asked. 

Glimmer looked at her. 

“She helped you to save me, I just want to thank her.” 

“Yeah, and she looked cool, maybe we could be friends. She could teach me how to throw knives!” Bow smiled.

Glimmer raised one eyebrow. 

“Why? You can’t throw knives with your bow.”

“No, but it could be useful when I finish my arrows!”

“Hope you won’t need them ever again” Adora sighed, sitting on her chair. “Aren’t you guys tired of fighting? I feel like I haven’t done anything else in my life…”

They all stared at her. 

“Because it  is what you’ve done your entire life, Adora” Bow smirked. “And yes, I’d like to just chill out for a while, actually.”

“Yeah, me too” Glimmer sighed. “But I’m the Queen, I need to be prepared. I can’t drop my guard. And, maybe, I could learn to throw knives, too.”

Bow jumped.

“Yes!” he cheered. 

Adora smirked. 

“Okay, let’s go to talk to Perfuma then.” She stood up. “We’ll find Azeria. I’m curious too, actually. She seemed quite skilled.”

“Oh, you haven’t seen her on the battlefield” Netossa grinned. “She’s so fast you can’t even see her when she moves!”

Adora frowned. 

“Really?”

“Yes! She’s even faster than Catra!”

“Impossible!”

“I swear!”

“Well, don’t tell Catra, then. She would take it personally.”

Netossa laughed. 

“I know, I know…”

Adora was surprised to find Catra in the gardens, laughing with Entrapta, Scorpia and Perfuma, with Melog watching her from a distance and Emily and Hordak there. Getting closer to them, she noticed that they were holding a bunch of pictures. Catra heard them approach and turned to look at them. Her gaze softened as she leaned it on her. 

“Hi” she purred.

“Hi” Adora smiled. Then she nodded at the pictures she was holding. “I didn’t know you like taking pictures.”

Catra looked down at the photographs and Adora noticed she looked really happy in them. And it was clear she was having fun. 

“Scorpia insisted…”

Yeah, sure. 

“Mh-mh. Hey, why don’t we take one together?”

Catra looked at her in surprise, but she didn’t understand why. They didn’t have a photo together, but the one with all the other cadets. And, looking at the ones she was holding in her hands, Adora realized she really wanted one. She wanted tons of photographs with her. So she moved quickly, grabbing her by her back and legs and lifting her before she could react. Catra clinged to her neck, digging her claws into her back. 

“Adora!” she yelled.

“Ouch! Easy, I won’t let you fall!” she laughed. Catra relaxed a bit, but she still scowled at her. 

“You could have warned me!”

“Why? Don’t you trust me?”

Catra rolled her eyes. 

“I don’t know, you’re not She-Ra right now, maybe you’re not strong enough to…” 

Adora didn’t give her the time to end the sentence and turned into She-Ra, and Catra laughed hard. “I knew you would do it.”

“Well, I’ll look better in the photo with this hair.”

Catra laughed again (and so did everyone else). 

“Idiot! Now look at Emily.”

“I’d rather look at you.”

“Adoraaaa!”

Adora laughed hard and looked at the robot, that somehow looked happy, too. Emily took a bunch of pictures of them, smiling at first, then kissing (with Bow, Perfuma and Scorpia’s ‘aawwwww’ in the background), then grimacing, then fighting and laughing, then with Adora being Adora, not She-Ra, and Catra jumping over her shoulders, then kissing again. 

“Adora, Catra, you’re adorable, but…” Glimmer was saying, but Bow burst out laughing. 

“ADORABLE! PPPFAHAHAHHAH!”

Glimmer stared at him, but he kept laughing.

“ _Adora_ ble! No, no, wait for it:  _Catradorable_ ! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!”

Glimmer placed her hand across her face. 

“Why do I love him?” she grunted. 

“Anyway” Netossa said, still smiling. “Perfuma, do you know anything about a warrior named Azeria? I’ve heard that…”

“Azeria? Sure, she lives in Plumeria. She’s very famous there! We fought the Horde’s robots together a couple of times.”

Adora paid attention to her while hugging Catra from behind. 

“She helped us against Wolfa, but then she vanished and we couldn’t even thank her properly. Do you know where she lives, exactly?”

“I would like to invite her to Bright Moon,” Glimmer added. “As a guest of honor. Bow’s birthday party was a disaster, we need to throw another one.”

Bow blushed. 

“Glimmer, there’s no need, really…”

“Yeah, and we could invite Wolfa, Tauro, Ophid and Kara too!” Scorpia grinned. “A party is perfect to make friends!”

Adora tensed a bit. 

“Hoping that they won’t try to kill us again” she mumbled. 

Catra distanced from her and looked at her in surprise. 

“Adora,  you freed Wolfa.”

“I know, but can we really trust her just because she told Tauro to help Glimmer? I mean, maybe we just took her in a moment of weakness. Maybe she did it just to manipulate us and make us free her friends and attack us again!”

“Okay, you’re making me nervous” Bow said. 

“No, she’s not sneaky” Scorpia said. 

“Just ask her” Hordak said out of the blue, and everyone looked at him. “I told you she can’t lie” he said, shrugging. “Ask her if she still wants to attack Bright Moon, she’ll answer honestly.”

Adora shook her head. 

“Actually, it’s not Wolfa I’m worried about. I talked to her, I looked in her eyes, and I do think she doesn’t want to fight us anymore. But the others…”

“Oh, they follow her” Scorpia said, so mellow that she almost relaxed. “They’re her pack. If she believes we’re the good ones, they’ll believe it too.”

“I’ve never heard of a fight between them” Hordak nodded. “They’re very close.”

Catra snorted.

“What you knew and what actually happened in the Fright Zone are two very different things, Hordak, but when we imprisoned those idiots they looked lost, Adora. They won’t do anything without Wolfa’s guidance.”

Adora trusted her opinion more than anybody else’s. Catra had proved herself a perfect Force Captain, she knew how to judge a possible enemy. 

“Okay then” she smirked. Then she looked at Glimmer. “So, what did you have in mind for this party?”

  


  


  


  


  


Adora closed the doors with a sigh. It had been a very long day. Melog climbed the bed and purred while snuggling up between the pillows. 

Catra took off her burgundy and golden clothes and let herself fall on the bed with just her grey underwear. Adora gulped, blushing, and looked away while undressing in turn. 

“Are you going to sleep, knowing that the pack is free in the castle?” Catra asked her. Adora shrugged. 

“Yes, I trust your instinct. If you say that we’re safe, then we’re safe.”

Catra looked surprised. 

“Thank you.”

Adora smirked. 

“You’re better than me at understanding people.”

Catra laughed softly. 

“I’m not sure you’re right. I trusted Double Trouble and Shadow Weaver.”

“No, you didn’t. You questioned her, when I was blindly following her orders.”

She knew that Catra knew exactly what she was talking about. 

“That’s because you have this hero thing and you always want to save everyone.”

“Yep, that’s why I’m nervous about the pack.”

“You said you’re okay now.”

“I am, I mean…” She puffed while taking off her shirt. “Maybe I’m just nervous because she likes you” she admitted, blushing. 

A smug smile curved Catra’s lips. 

“You’re still jealous.”

Adora sighed. 

“Yes, Catra. Of course I am! You’re amazing, she looks at you like she’s never seen anything more beautiful, and I can’t even blame her because I understand her!” she burst out. Catra stood up and caressed her face, bumping gently her forehead against hers. 

“We talked about this. I love you, dummy. And I don’t want anybody else.”

“I know, but still…” Adora felt a knot clench her throat. “I’m afraid to lose you. It scares me to death.”

“Do you think I don’t feel the same? Adora, everytime you turn into She-Ra everyone looks at you like you’re the sun itself! Don’t you think I’m jealous? Don’t you think I’m afraid that you will meet someone else, someone  _better_? I’m terrified. But I tell myself that none will ever have what we have, none will ever know you like I do, none will ever love you like I do.” Catra was blushing, and Adora cupped her face. “So, do the same. You… you are everything to me, Adora. I destroyed reality because I lost you” she laughed between the tears, and Adora did too, overwhelmed by every word she was saying. “So take me for granted. I’m nothing without you.” 

Adora shook her head. 

“You’ve done so much without me…”

Catra snorted. 

“I’ve made a mess.”

“You almost conquered the world. Like we used to say, remember?” They laughed briefly, softly. “You did it on your own, without me, no, better, against me. Catra, you’re extraordinary.” Adora kissed her cheek. “No matter what Shadow Weaver told you.” And kissed her jawline. “No matter what Hordak told you.” She kissed her neck. “What anyone else told you.” And her collarbone. Catra was purring. “You’re the strongest, most powerful of us all. And you don’t even have powers. You just worked so hard…” She smiled, seeing how shocked was Catra to realize that, yes, she was actually proud of her, even if everything she did was against Etheria, because, in another life, if the parts were inverted, or even if she never found the sword and stayed in the Horde, she would never achieve what Catra had achieved when she was alone and broken. So yes, even when they were at war she kept looking at her nemesis in awe, a secret that now only Catra knew. “Everyday you surprise me, Catra. You’re doing everything you can to be better, but really, you’re already perfect to me.”

She dried the tears that were falling on Catra’s face and kissed her, letting all her emotions flow in that kiss, hoping that it would be enough to make her feel what she was feeling, to make her feel loved. Because she felt loved, really, deeply loved, and it was the best feeling ever.


	13. Even wolves dream

There was literally everyone this time, even Lonnie, Rogelio and Kyle, even Huntara, even Octavia, that was somehow chatting with Micah as if they had known each other for years. Bow’s parents had trapped Castaspella in a very long conversation about the First Ones and Sea Hawk was singing a sea shanty with Ophid and Bow while Mermista was talking to Kara. They both looked pissed off by everything. Soul sisters. 

Catra drank another sip of juice, happy to wear a suit instead of a dress, this time. She had picked a dark-grey shirt and a black and gold jacket over black and gold trousers, and high boots. She also wore her black mittens. Adora instead… oh, she was gorgeous. Catra had convinced her to commission to the tailors a new dress, made of golden, semi-transparent silk, long and light as a feather. She had let her hair loose, for once. She couldn’t take her eyes off of her. 

“Catra, you’re still staring at me…” Adora murmured blushing behind her glass. She smirked. 

“I’m admiring my work. You wanted to wear that stupid red dress…”

“Hey! My dress isn’t stupid!”

“Maybe, but it was the only one you had, and just because Sparkles had it made for you.”

Adora shrugged. 

“I’m not obsessed with my wardrobe like you.”

Catra raised one eyebrow. 

“You have one outfit repeated ten times. Who’s obsessed between you and me?”

Adora rolled her eyes. 

“You know what I mean.”

“I know that you need help with your clothes.”

“Mpf, I don’t need any help, my outfit is comfy and practical.”

“And boring.”

Adora widened her eyes. 

“You think I’m boring?”

Catra laughed. 

“You’re predictable.”

“I’m not! I can be very unpredictable, if I want to!”

“Really?”

“Sure!”

“Show me.”

Adora narrowed her eyes. Then she sneered. And then she spilled her drink all over her face. 

Catra jumped back hissing, her hair raising, her tail rigid and her ears low. 

“WHAT THE FUCK?”

Adora was laughing so hard that she made her forget about the juice that wetted her face and her shirt, and made her smile. It was so beautiful to watch her have fun, free from her duties. 

“It’s your fault, Catra, you challenged me!”

Catra burst into laughter. 

“You’re gonna pay for this, you dumbass!”

Adora’s smile faded away slowly as her eyes focused on something behind her. Catra turned and met a pair of pale-yellow eyes staring at her with… damn, there was nothing but pain there. Wolfa turned away and Catra looked at Adora, who simply nodded with a tiny smile. She took in a deep breath, then walked to join the wolf-girl, next to the long table brimming with a wide variety of food that Adora had already plundered.

“Hey.”

Wolfa glanced at her and she could swear she had seen a sparkle of pure panic in her eyes. 

“Uhm… hi” she muttered, gazing down, her hands stuck in the pockets of her black leather jacket. She wasn’t actually dressed for a party, more for, like… a ride in the desert? She still wore the Horde uniform under the jacket. The upper part of her hair was tied up again in a short ponytail.

“I was afraid you wouldn’t come.”

Wolfa stared at her in surprise, finally. 

“Y-you noticed I wasn’t here?” she whispered, blushing. Catra blushed in turn. 

“Well, it’s hard not to notice when your former enemy doesn’t show up at the party they ruined. I mean, you could be up to something bad.”

It was a risk and she knew it, but Wolfa didn’t buy it, fortunately, and sneered at her. 

“I was, but then, you know, the food, the drinks…” she shrugged. “I didn’t want to waste them again. Also, I didn’t want your stupid friends to kick my ass. I’m still sore.”

Catra frowned, glancing at the scratches on her face. She wondered if Castaspella didn’t heal them because they weren’t a danger for her health, or if Wolfa had stopped her. By the way she was looking at her, she probably did. It wasn’t actually a bad feeling, knowing that someone she barely knew was attracted to her. She felt flattered, but she also felt bad for her, because she knew too well how painful it could be. She’d rather be hated by her. 

“You messed with the second Princess Alliance, what did you expect?”

Wolfa sighed. She grabbed a tiny sandwich from a tray, looking at it skeptically. 

“There was no other way” she murmured, rubbing the back of her neck. Catra shivered and drew her hand to the same spot behind her own neck, under her short hair. She hid another shiver and lowered her hand, but Wolfa was staring at her with a strange expression in her feral eyes.

“He hurt you, didn’t he?” she asked in a low voice. Catra clenched her jaw and was about to deny, but then she held back the lie. Denying it wouldn’t erase it. 

“Adora saved me” she nodded. She watched a glimpse of anger run through her features and her hair stood on end before she realized that that fury wasn’t directed at her, neither at Adora. 

“I’m sorry, Catra” Wolfa murmured. “I didn’t know it. It wasn’t painful, for me, it actually felt good to be with him, and I thought it was like that for everyone else.”

Catra clenched her fists, trying not to think too much about it. 

“Yeah, well... it wasn’t.”

“I never meant to hurt you.”

Catra met her eyes again, and what she saw in them made her think that Wolfa would kiss her right away. But Wolfa stayed still, fortunately. “I didn’t even want to hit you so hard, but you’re not exactly the meekest hostage ever, kitty” she sneered instead. Catra narrowed her eyes. 

“Don’t you ever call me ‘kitty’ again!”

“Or what?”

“Or I’ll kick your ass!”

Wolfa gave her a smug snort. 

“My ass would love it, kitty, trust me.”

Catra widened her eyes.

“Did you just…?”

“You bet I did. Kitty.”

Catra hissed and was ready to pounce on her, but Glimmer approached them in that moment, preventing her from pushing Wolfa over the table and making a mess. 

“Heeey, are you fighting or are you kidding? Just so that I know if I have to teleport you both inside the waterfall.”

Catra stuck her tongue out, Wolfa laughed softly. 

“Oh, trust me, you don’t want to smell my hair when it’s wet.”

Both Glimmer and Catra winced. 

“That would be Catra’s problem, I would just drop you there and leave.”

“Sparkles!!!”

“I don’t think Adora would be okay with this idea of yours, Your Majesty. She already looks nervous enough.”

Catra turned and… oh, shit! Adora was definitely taller than before, even if she was pretending to listen to Perfuma while glancing at them. She-Ra blushed and looked away when she met Catra’s glare, starting to eat nervously from Perfuma’s dish. 

“Idiot” Catra mumbled. She turned, welcoming with astonishment Wolfa’s resigned gaze. 

“You should go to her” she murmured. Her eyes were a bit glassy. She wasn't about to cry for her, right? No, she wasn’t. She was a Horde soldier, after all. Right? “Go” Wolfa insisted, nodding towards Adora. Then she gave her another sad smirk. “Before she throws her sword at me.”

“Oh, she wouldn’t, she would just come here and punch you in the face. But, just in case…” 

  


  


  


  


  


  


Wolfa watched her walk away feeling as if a big portion of her heart was being slowly ripped away from her. She had to look away when Catra joined Adora and stood on her tiptoes to wrap her arms around her neck and kiss her. Unfortunately, Queen Glimmer was right there, staring at her with an annoying, satisfied smile on her face. 

“What?”

“Oh, so you’re nice only when Catra is around?”

Wolfa sighed, shaking her head and rolling her eyes. 

“Maybe. Can’t you just hate me for kidnapping you and avoid me like anybody else?”

“I could hate you for using my powers against my will, too. And for almost choking me to death.”

Wolfa frowned. 

“See? There’s a lot of bad things I did to you. Come on, now, do your worst. Turn and leave me alone with my demons.”

Glimmer laughed. 

“Maybe I want to revenge myself on you by annoying you.”

Wolfa narrowed her eyes. 

“I’m sure you could bring me to suicide with all that sparkly, positive energy of yours, sooner or later.”

Glimmer laughed again. 

“Or I could just throw you off the balcony.”

“That, also.”

She managed to smile a little bit. But… Catra was dancing with Adora now, following Scorpia’s voice. She’d always liked that crab’s voice, but she never told her. And she’d never do that, of course. Scorpia wasn’t her friend. She would never let her become her friend, especially now: she was Catra’s friend, she had spent so much time with her, and it made her  _ furious _ . 

Wolfa focused on the other guests. She gave a start seeing that the fox-girl was there, and that she was looking at her. Azeria smirked and she stepped back, growling.

“What the hell is she doing here?”

Glimmer noticed Azeria only now, apparently. She waved her hand to make her come closer and Wolfa panicked a bit. 

“What are you doing?!”

“Oh, don’t worry, I invited her!”

“But she…”

“Hi, Azeria! I’m glad you decided to join us! Netossa told me a lot about you, we’re honoured to have you here.”

Azeria smiled at Glimmer and bowed to her. 

“Your Majesty, the honour is mine. Wolfa.” She bowed her head towards her and gave her an intense look that made her heart skip a couple of beats. She was wearing a night-blue dress, studded with thousands of tiny crystals that made it look like a starry night-sky. Her braid had vanished and her dark-brown hair fell loose and wavy to her fluffy, orange tail with the white tip. Wolfa noticed a gold circle hang from her left ear.

“Let’s make it clear, Azeria, you stabbed me in the back like a coward, I didn’t forget it and I’m not forgiving you.”

The woman smiled. 

“I hit you where I could without killing you. My apologies if it stung a little bit. My knives are quite sharp.”

“It’s not because it hurt, it’s because you didn’t face me.”

“Oh, darling, if I did, your wounds would have been many more.”

Wolfa growled, but she didn’t look impressed. Glimmer grinned warily. 

“Oookay, what if…”

“I’d really like to see that” she snarled, showing her fangs, but Azeria looked amused. She reached out and caressed her face, freezing her. 

“You’re cute when you’re angry.” And then she walked away, joining Spinnerella and Netossa a few metres away. Wolfa was paralyzed.  _What the hell…?_

Glimmer was uselessly trying to hold back laughter with a hand pressed over her mouth.

“I think she likes you” she said, and Wolfa felt the fur on her back stand on end. 

“She stabbed me!”

“Well, yes, but…” Wolfa glowered at her and she paused. “Oh, come on! It was just a little knife!”

“Oh, really? Try to get one stuck in your shoulder blade, then tell me how it feels.”

Glimmer grinned. 

“I’d rather not.”

“Exactly.”

“Wolfa!” Kara approached her with a worried look on her scarred face. “Are you okay?”

Ophid and Tauro joined them, too. Wolfa clenched her jaw. 

“Looks like you were having fun, guys, don’t worry about me.”

Glimmer was still staring at her, but she looked a bit surprised by her words. 

Kara put a hand on her left shoulder.

“We’ll always worry about you, jerk.”

Wolfa glanced at her right before shrugging to force her to draw back her hand.

“Well, stop. I’m fine.”

Tauro glanced at Catra and Adora, who were dancing next to the stage. 

“We know you’re not, boss.”

Wolfa gave him a warning stare and he looked away. Ophid sighed.

“We’re here, if you want to talk.”

“There’s nothing to talk about. Enjoy the party. Forget about me.” She had to make an effort to keep her voice firm and, in order to do so, she had to avoid the vision of  _them_ dancing together. But the pain was still there, even if she knew she didn’t have a chance, that she’d never had a chance. She was nothing compared to She-Ra, to Adora, after all. She was nothing, period. She had no home, no mission. Just a bunch of friends that she didn’t want anymore, because they kept reminding her of who she used to be, of all the nights spent thinking about  her , of the bravery she didn’t find. She wasn’t even capable of talking to Catra besides telling her “yes, Force Captain”, or a few babbled words when they were younger. She had been so stupid. She should have tried to talk to her, at least. It wouldn’t have changed anything, but she would have something to hold on to, now, a memory, a conversation, something, not just the awkward talk they just had under Adora’s jealous stare. She clenched her fists, noticing that her former team had left her alone with the Queen again. 

“You know” Glimmer said, “I could use a guard skilled like you, in the castle.”

Wolfa looked at her in horror. 

“You want me to stay here?”

Glimmer smiled at her, apparently incapable of understanding what that would mean to her. 

“Yes! You’re strong, loyal, and smart! We need people like you.”

“Glimmer… I can’t.” She couldn’t help but sound desperate, and Glimmer’s smile disappeared.

“Why? I forgave you, Wolfa, really, none here blames you for what you did. I’m sure you’d be happy here. And you could get along with Azeria…”

Wolfa stepped back. The idea alone to stay there, having to watch Catra and Adora live happily ever after in front of her, was a pain she couldn’t bear. Her heart was beating fast, her lungs didn’t fill with enough air.

“I… I just can’t. Just…” She glanced at her friends for one last time. Doing so, she met Azeria’s stare once again. She looked worried, she looked about to walk back to her. Wolfa gazed at Glimmer. “I’m sorry for what I put you through. Goodbye, Your Majesty.” And she walked away, almost running. 

“Wolfa!” She heard Glimmer shout, but she didn’t turn. She just kept walking, relieved that none tried to follow her.

  


  


  


  


  


“Where is she going?”

Glimmer looked at Azeria, who was watching the distant silhouette of Wolfa disappearing in the dark. 

“I don’t know… maybe she just needs some time alone.”

She felt guilty. She thought that it was just a crush, Scorpia said that it was just a crush! She didn’t think she would react that way. 

“What did you say to her?” 

Glimmer gave a start at Kara’s aggressive tone. The former soldiers were back again, all of them worried, trying to see Wolfa in the shadows, but she was gone already. 

“I just… I asked her if she wanted to stay. I was offering her a job.”

Kara widened her brown eyes. 

“Here in Bright Moon?”

“With Catra here?” Ophid shook his head. “Oh, no…”

Tauro slapped his face.

“She’s not coming back.”

Glimmer widened her eyes. 

“What!? Why?”

Kara gave her an angry stare. 

“I can’t believe you’re so stupid! She loves Catra! Like,  _really_ ! Since the very first moment she saw her!”

Glimmer felt a shiver run down her spine.

“Yes, I mean, I know she has a crush on her but…”

“It’s not a crush” Kara spat. “Catra breaks her heart every time she just looks at Adora. Glimmer, I know that you don’t know Wolfa, but we lived with her literally every day of our lives, so believe me when I say that it’s not a crush. She loves her, and she’d rather die than watch her kiss that dumbass every day. You didn’t offer her a job, you offered her her personal hell.”

“We need to find her” Tauro said. 

Ophid let out a sibilant sigh.

“I’m not really sure about it.” When his friends looked at him, he plowed on. “You know her, guys. If she wants company, she’ll look for us, otherwise it’s better to leave her alone. Unless you want a bite.”

Kara shook her head.

“We can’t just leave her alone like this…”

Tauro touched her arm. 

“She knows she can count on us. If she needs time alone, we’ll give her.”

“Your friend seems more emotional than I thought possible for a Horde soldier” Azeria intervened, and they all looked at her distrustfully. Glimmer, instead, was still staring at the point where she’d last seen her. 

“We’re not just soldiers, jerk, we’re people like you. You think you’re better than us just because you didn’t grow up in the Fright Zone?” Kara spat, facing the warrior. But Azeria kept calm and stared back at her. 

“I don’t. I only meant to say that she’s driven by her emotions. I’m afraid she could do something stupid.”

Glimmer froze and turned to look at her. Then she looked at Kara.

“You didn’t really mean that she’d rather die… right?”

“No” Tauro cut in. “She hates cowardice. She wouldn’t.”

“Indeed” Ophid agreed. “Let’s just give her a couple of days. If she doesn't come back, we’ll look for her, but I’m sure she just needs some time alone. It’s not the first time she acts like this.”

Kara sighed. 

“I hope you’re right, guys. I can’t lose her.”

They way she said it rang a bell in Glimmer’s mind. Kara noticed her curious stare and snorted.

“We’ve been together, okay?” _I knew it!_ “Then I broke up with her.”

Tauro smirked. 

“Well, actually she broke up with you.”

“No! I did, because she kept looking at that stupid kitten. She even called me ‘Catra’ once, while she was half asleep. It wasn’t a healthy relationship, so I ended it.”

Glimmer was astonished, first of all because she couldn’t imagine how a relationship could develop in the Fright Zone, and second because, well, she just imagined Wolfa call for Catra’s name in her sleep and it gave her a strange feeling. Catra had always thought that none cared about her (she could still hear her voice saying so on Prime’s ship), but she was so wrong. 

“But she never told her about her feelings” she suddenly said, gaining an annoyed stare from the former soldiers. 

“It was the Horde, remember?” Kara said “Weakness was not allowed, and she was weak when Catra was around, trust me. I’ve never heard her stuttering, not even in front of Shadow Weaver, but the few times when she tried to talk to Catra, she couldn’t get three words out of her mouth.”

“Our Wolfa is quite shy, actually” Tauro grinned, and the others smirked glancing away. ‘Our Wolfa’, he said. They weren’t different from them, at all. That was a Best Friends Squad. Not as cool as theirs, but it still was it. 

“Really?” Azeria asked, smiling. Glimmer held back a sneer. 

“You have no idea!” Ophid laughed. “Once she had to go to Lonnie to deliver an order from Octavia, and she had never talked to Lonnie before, but she was so nervous that she forgot the order and had to go back to Octavia and make her repeat it back to her twice!”

Both Kara and Tauro laughed.

“She was punished for that” Kara said. 

“And I had to deliver the bloody order, eventually!” Tauro laughed. 

Glimmer tried to do the same, but what Kara said kept stabbing her heart. 

“Were punishments… harsh?” she dared to ask. She never asked Adora, let alone Catra (by the way she jumped every time someone touched her, especially Shadow Weaver, she guessed she went through everything a child shouldn’t go through), but she always felt the need to know how much her friends’ childhood was messed up. Meeting Shadow Weaver had clarified a lot about their behaviors, but still…

“Sometimes” Kara shrugged. 

“It depended on who was punishing who” Ophid explained. “With Cobalt they never were. It was about skipping a meal or being on latrine duty for a week.” That looked quite harsh to her, but she didn’t comment, just shot a glance at Azeria, who was listening carefully though and didn’t notice. “Grizzlor could actually beat you black and blue.” 

Glimmer widened her eyes in horror. 

“Yeah, and when Octavia got the promotion…” Ophid added, wrinkling his short nose and eying the former Force Captain (she was still talking to her dad), “she would likely tie you up outside for a couple of days, without water nor food.” 

Glimmer was about to pass out. Of course Catra was so…. Catra! And Adora so tense all the time!

“Shadow Weaver was the worst” Kara continued, looking at her. “Her magic was scary.”

“And painful” Tauro shivered. Kara nodded slowly, glancing away.

“And painful.”

“Yeah, I… experienced that” Glimmer said, gaining the first friendly look from them. It was about time! “Hey, why don’t you join Scorpia on stage and sing with her?”

They all laughed and snorted. 

“Over my dead body!”

“No way, I can’t even whistle with my forked tongue!”

“Trust me, you don’t want that. And Catra’s stealing the scene as always, by the way.”

Glimmer turned and almost choked. Catra was on the stage, holding the microphone in her hands, her tail so fluffy that it almost looked like Azeria’s. 

“I can’t believe my eyes!”

  


  


  


  


“Hey, Adora.”

Adora smiled, touched, astounded. She couldn’t believe that Catra was doing it. And she was beautiful, breathtaking, even if she was clearly terrified, even with her hair wet and her shirt stained by the juice she poured on her. And the way she was looking at her… oh, she would gladly look in those eyes for the rest of her life, just sinking in all that love. “This is not because I like you” Catra plowed on, smirking, and she laughed with tears in her eyes.

The music started and Catra too, slow and uncertain. But everyone clapped at her, cheering, so she let her voice become more firm, stronger. Her tail went back to its normal size as her voice caressed Adora’s senses. 

“ _I found a love for me_

_ Oh darling, just dive right in and follow my lead _

_ Well, I found a girl, beautiful and sweet _

_Oh, I never knew you were the someone waiting for me_ ”

Adora couldn't hold back the tears. Catra’s voice was breaking but she kept singing. 

“ _'Cause we were just kids when we fell in love_

_ Not knowing what it was _

_ I will not give you up this time _

_ But darling, just kiss me slow, your heart is all I own _

_And in your eyes, you're holding mine_ ”

Catra’s voice raised like a wave, gaining strength, becoming more powerful, but still sweet. 

“ _Baby, I'm dancing in the dark with you between my arms_

_ Barefoot on the grass, listening to our favourite song _

_ When you said you looked a mess, I whispered underneath my breath _

_But you heard it, darling, you look perfect tonight_ ” 

Catra winked at her and she laughed weeping. The crowd clapped enthusiastically and Catra blushed, but she continued then. 

“ _Well I found a woman, stronger than anyone I know_

_ She shares my dreams, I hope that someday I'll share her home _

_ I found a love, to carry more than just my secrets _

_To carry love, to carry children of our own_ ”

Adora almost choked. Did she just say…?

“ _We are still kids, but we're so in love_

_ Fighting against all odds _

_ I know we'll be alright this time _

_ Darling, just hold my hand _

_ Be my girl, I'll be yours and _

_ I see my future in your eyes _

_ Baby, I'm dancing in the dark, with you between my arms _

_ Barefoot on the grass, listening to our favorite song _

_ When I saw you in that dress, looking so beautiful _

_I don't deserve this, darling, you look perfect tonight_ ” 

There was the most felt applause she’d ever heard, and with a quick glance she realized that _everyone_ was crying, touched by Catra’s performance. The way her girlfriend’s voice kept raising and lowering made her heart beat with awe, and what she’d just said, her voice breaking again on the last line, the sad smirk when she said she didn’t deserve this… she sobbed, covering her mouth, looking at her through the veil of tears. And then Catra’s voice touched her heart again.

“ _Baby, I'm dancing in the dark, with you between my arms_

_ Barefoot on the grass, listening to our favorite song _

_ I have faith in what I see _

_ Now I know I have met an angel in person _

_ And she looks perfect _

_ I don't deserve this _

_You look perfect tonight._ ” 

All around her her friends burst into an ovation, screaming and clapping, but Catra was smiling at her and there was nothing else in the whole universe right now. Adora was breathless. Then Catra snorted and talked on the microphone, sneering. 

“This was just to show you, losers, that I’m better than you even at singing.”

Everyone laughed, Catra included. Adora was feeling too many emotions to laugh. Catra jumped down from the stage and Adora ran to her and hugged her tight, lifting her from the ground and kissing her. She felt her smile on her lips, and her hands wiping her tears. 

“I told you I would make you pay for ruining my suit” she chuckled. 

Adora laughed softly. 

“You are amazing, Catra” she murmured, looking in her eyes. Catra blushed a little bit. “I’m so lucky to have you. I love you.”

Catra glanced down smiling, then kissed her, gently, caressing her face.

“I love you too, dummy.”

Adora broke the kiss, a thought crossing her mind again. 

“Hey, that thing you said about you not deserving this…”

“Adora…”

“Because you do deserve the best. You deserve to be happy, Catra...”

“Adora…”

“I know you still feel guilty but you’ve done so much good and...”

Catra placed her hand on her mouth, she widened her eyes but then realized that Catra was smiling. 

“I know it, Adora. Don’t freak out, it was just a song.”

Adora took her hand and pushed it downwards, looking in her eyes.

“No, Catra, it was… it was so much more. Thank you.” 

“Catraaa you can sing!” Scorpia hugged her, lifting her up and Catra hissed, trying to wriggle free. 

“Put me down!”

“Why didn’t you tell me before?”

“Because you would react exactly this way!”

Adora laughed, watching them as Scorpia finally let go of her and seeing Glimmer and Bow and… oh, everyone was approaching. Catra was about to get some attention. She would hate it. 

“Catra, your voice is incredible!” Glimmer said grinning. “When did you learn how to sing like that?”

“Yeah, you made me cry!” Bow said. Catra glared at him. 

“Making you cry is the easiest thing in the world, Arrow Boy.”

“You have the cutest sneeze and you can sing! I can’t believe it!”

Catra lowered her ears. 

“You want me to throw you off a cliff again?”

Adora went closer to Catra and wrapped her arm around her waist.

“Please, don’t. It’s his second birthday party, remember?”

Catra grunted, and she had to hold back laughter. 

“So, how does it work?” Glimmer asked smiling. “They gave singing lessons in the Fright Zone?”

“Sparkles!”

“Not really” Scorpia answered anyway. “Oh, it wasn’t a real question, was it?”

Glimmer laughed. 

“It wasn’t, but thank you for the info anyway.”

Scorpia shrugged and Perfuma stretched to kiss her cheek, and she blushed while she caressed her face, holding on to her claw. 

“I bet you two would make an amazing singing duo” Perfuma said, and Adora felt Catra become rigid as a stone. 

“That would be awesome!” Scorpia grinned. 

“FORGET IT!”

Adora laughed. 

“Why? It could be funny… I mean, for us. I’m sure you would fight all the time to get the solo.”

“We could just make half and half…” Scorpia tried, but Adora recognized the challenging light in Catra’s eyes and smirked. 

“No way I’m doing that. But if I was, I would lead.”

Scorpia’s face lit up. 

“You’re saying that there’s a chance?”

“Not even the slightest.”

“Noooo!” Scorpia collapsed into her girlfriend’s arms (Perfuma’s eyes widened and she had to grow some plants to hold her weight). “You’re mean!”

Catra sneered. 

“And you’re just realizing that now?”

Adora swayed her hips and bumped gently against her.

“Oh, come on, Catra, you don’t get to play the bad guy anymore.”

“Yeah, we all know that you’re a sweetheart, now” Bow added smiling. Then he had to run away screaming before that Catra could slash his suit with her claws, followed by everyone’s laughter. 

“Hey, where’s Wolfa?” Adora asked suddenly. She mentally slapped herself for not noticing her absence before. Catra’s performance left her in a weird, happy, relaxed state of mind that made her drop her guard. 

“She left” one of her friends, Ophid, said. “She just needs some time alone, she’ll be fine.” He didn’t look convinced, and so the other two, especially Kara. 

“Should we go and look for her?”

“No,” Tauro replied, “she’d be mad. She’s made this way. If she wants your company, she just tells you, otherwise you’d better not be around.”

A little smirk curved Adora’s lips. 

“All right then.” She glanced at Bow still trying to run from Catra. She was obviously giving him the time to do so, playing with him like a cat with a mouse. About that… Her smirk became a sneer. “Guys, you don’t wanna miss this. HEY, CATRA!” Catra turned to look at her. “IS THAT A MOUSE?” 

Catra looked around, her hair and tail suddenly ruffled.

“WHERE?”

Adora laughed hard, snorting, until she had tears in her eyes, like everyone else, her laughter became even louder when she noticed Catra’s glare. “She _always_ falls for it!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I might have changed the lyrics a little bit xD  
> Next chapter is the last one, but you might have noticed I added this work to a series... this might be because I may already have started writing something more about this story. Like, 10 chapters.  
> Anyway, hope you liked this chapter. It's probably my favourite by now, just because Catra sings xD


	14. In the same direction

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, sorry if it took so long to update, I couldn't find the time to switch on my computer these days :/ Hope this final chapter will be worth the wait. See you at the end of it ;)

The Crimson Waste didn’t change a lot. It was still desert, dangerous and wild. Catra turned and met Adora’s gaze. She looked quite relaxed. Next to her, Glimmer was chatting with Bow about Mermista and Sea Hawk’s engagement, a conversation she had no interest in joining. The Best Friends Squad in action. And then there was Azeria, a silent and lethal presence behind them. Since Bow’s (second) party, one month ago, she had stayed in Bright Moon and proved herself useful helping Bow with some aerodynamics issues for his arrows, as far as she knew. Even Kara, Tauro and Ophid kept showing around, until they had found a place where to stay in Plumeria, thanks to Azeria, and resigned to wait for Wolfa there. And there they were, still, just in case that Kyle’s information about a “weird and scary girl with white hair and wolfish tail and ears” was wrong and that she would come back to them. It was a possibility, Wolfa wasn’t the only one looking like that, but still…

“We’re almost there,” Bow said in a louder tone, looking at his trackpad. “It should be right… there.” Catra looked at the place he was pointing out. Still distant and tiny from there, there was a huge, old bone planted in the ground, with grey, blue and brown veils forming a sort of tent from it. It was completely exposed, not a good place if you had to defend it. Unless you wanted a good visual of any incoming enemy. Maybe Wolfa had some ranged weapons. A cannon stole from a robot, probably?

“There she is” Catra said. 

“Can you see her?” Bow asked, narrowing his eyes. Catra glanced at him, sighing. 

“No, jerk, I just recognized the Horde’s blanket. It’s the blue one.”

“Oh. Right.”

“Let’s be quick, she’s probably seen us already” Adora said. She looked so focused, so much like the “old” Adora, when she had a target and nothing could stop her from hitting it. “She might overreact.”

“Adora.” Azeria’s soft voice was unexpected, so Catra turned to look at her together with her girlfriend. She looked worried. “Even if she attacks us, could you please not turn into She-Ra? I can handle her even without magic. Leave her to me, if it happens. Please. She can’t stand a chance against you, and she hates it.”

Catra couldn’t help but snort. 

“How would you know? You don’t know her.”

Azeria smirked at her. 

“But I understand her anyway. You Horde guys, you’re all quite similar. Violence runs in your veins.”

Catra lowered her ears. 

“Oh, really? You think you know me?” she hissed. Azeria’s smile faded. 

“I didn’t mean to offend you, Catra. I grew up in a war zone, I’ve been fighting since I was nine. My parents were warriors, and so am I. I learned how to kick before than how to write. I know how it feels.”

“Oh, I don’t think you know. You just said it, you had your parents loving you, teaching you how to defend yourself!”

“Yes, and I saw them die by the hands of your fellow soldiers.” Azeria’s eyes were like burning embers, her gaze was piercing her. Catra was suddenly aware of how dangerous she was, and her tail showed it. Azeria glanced at her tail and her eyes turned kind again, but Catra didn’t relax. “Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate the Horde for this. My parents took their risks choosing to fight. It’s war, people die.” Out of the corner of her eye, Catra saw Glimmer give a start. Curious. She glanced at her, but she was staring at Azeria. 

“Wolfa said the exact same thing” Sparkles said. Azeria looked at her and smirked. 

“See?” she said. “I understand her.”

“But we’re not all the same anyway. We’re all different. We’re not robots, we’re people!” Catra was furious. How did she dare to judge them? 

“But she’s right.” Catra turned, staring at Adora in surprise. She had an apologizing expression on her face. “We were trained to attack, or to react to an attack” Adora plowed on. “Don’t tell me you haven’t thought about how Wolfa could try to keep us out of that tent since the very first moment you saw it, which weapons she has with her, and how would she use them. Because I did. Because I don’t want you or anyone else to get hurt, so I’m trying to arrive there prepared. And I know you are, too.”

Catra sighed, passed a hand through her hair. 

“I hate it when you’re right.” Then she glared at Azeria, even if she was smiling at her. “You’re wrong anyway. We’re not all the same.”

Azeria nodded.    
“Adora was better than me at explaining my own words. I only meant to say that you all received the same training, so you can be quite predictable.”

She and Adora shared a little smile. Catra was still pissed off. She turned and began walking towards the tent. 

“I was never predictable” she mumbled. 

It took a while before that Adora managed to reach her. 

“Catra, are you okay?”

“No. Who does she think she is? She appears out of nowhere, knocks Wolfa out and starts throwing stones? She didn’t grow up in the Fright Zone, she has no idea of how it was!”

“I don’t think she meant to…”

“And, oh, she thinks I’m the same as Wolfa? As Lonnie? As _ Kyle _ ?” Catra let out a bitter laughter. “She has no idea what I’m capable of.”

Adora slowed her pace. 

“Wait… you took it personally? Catra, everybody knows you’re…”

“What?” she spat. “Worse?”

Adora frowned, and she had that expression on her face, the one she made when she knew that Catra was about to panic. But she wasn’t. She was just angry.

“No. Stronger. I was about to say stronger.”

Her anger almost disappeared in a heartbeat. But still…

“Well, she clearly doesn’t.” The rest of the group was walking a few steps behind, so Azeria could hear her, of course, but she didn’t care. “She thinks we’re all clones, thinking the same thoughts. But I’m not. I think all by myself.” Something cracked Adora’s worried expression, even if she couldn’t say what it was. But Adora stopped her and grabbed her by her shoulders. 

“Of course you do. We all do. We’re people, not robots and especially not clones. And I’m not even sure about the robots, because, look at Emily… By the way, we… no,  you  never let anyone control you, Catra. Never. I used to, but Glimmer and Bow opened my eyes with the Horde and you opened my eyes with Shadow Weaver, and I did it myself with Light Hope. But we’re still used to thinking in a certain way, and it’s okay, because it keeps us and our friends safe. It’s not our fault, and there’s actually nothing wrong at this point. They might have taught us how to attack, but all we’re doing now is defending. Even the ones that attack us. Azeria is one of us, and she proved it.”

“Did she? Just because she threw a knife?”

She saw Adora hesitate, but Azeria intervened coming closer.

“You’re right, Catra. I’m not here for you, or for Queen Glimmer, I’m here for Wolfa.”

Catra faced her, looking in her orange eyes. 

“Why?”

Azeria stared back at her. 

“Because I find her interesting, and I want to make sure that she doesn’t get hurt.”

Catra raised one eyebrow. 

“You wounded her in the first place…” 

“She-Ra would have hurt her more. I chose the lesser evil.”

“Why were you even there? None should have been in Dryl.”

“I was around and I saw the three soldiers going to Dryl, their uniforms told me there was something wrong because none wears them anymore, so I followed them and preceded them inside. There was nothing there they could want, the only thing they could be interested in was the spaceship, so I broke into it and waited.”

“How did you avoid the robots?” Adora asked, finally suspicious. 

“I used the pipes until I could,” Azeria shrugged, “then I just fought them. That might have helped the intruders a bit, I have to admit it. But I didn’t know how to contact Bright Moon, Entrapta’s system is too complicated, so the only thing I could do was to try to stop them inside the ship, where I wouldn’t be so exposed. But when I realized you were there too, I thought you could handle four soldiers. I mean, you’ve faced worse than them. I would have just been a distraction, so I stayed hidden.”

It wasn't completely senseless, Catra had to admit it. Maybe she was by their side. She could give her a chance. But there was still something... 

“And then what, you saw Wolfa and it was love at first sight?”

Much to her disbelief, Azeria blushed and glanced away. 

“I… I do find her attractive, but I’m afraid that stabbing her in the back wasn’t exactly the best first approach.” Catra was astonished. She just admitted it, so easily, after all that useless talk, that she was there just because she liked Wolfa. She was surrounded by idiots. “I want to make it up to her.”

“And to make out with her.”

Azeria turned scarlet and gazed away. 

“We should really go now” she murmured. Catra sneered, victorious. 

“Yes, we really should.” She gave a satisfied glance to Adora before turning. “See, Sparkles?” she said while walking, without looking at Glimmer. “That’s how you interrogate someone. You don’t just invite them to a party.”

She smirked hearing her sigh.

“Netossa said…”

“Netossa doesn’t know her either.”

Glimmer appeared next to her. 

“Come on, Catra, Azeria’s always been with the Rebellion! Even her knives have a moon on their hilt! There was absolutely no need to interrogate her!”

“She was suspicious.”

“You’re paranoid.”

“I’d rather be paranoid and alive than laid-back and dead. Now, can’t you just teleport us inside, Sparkles?”

Glimmer glared at her. 

“Would it kill you to say ‘please’?”

Catra smiled. 

“Probably.”

Glimmer rolled her eyes and hugged them all, and then, in a heartbeat, they were inside the tent. Catra ignored the sickness (she would never get used to Glimmer’s power) and focused on Wolfa. She was… cooking?! Her hands were covered in flour and there was a round dough on the flat stone in front of her, next to the fire pit she had made with a piece of her old armor and a hole in the ground. Her hair was pulled up, and she wore a tan kaftan over grey-green leggings, and her uniform boots. And she looked like she'd seen a ghost.

“What are you doing here?” she whispered, all eyes on Catra, and she felt the weight of that stare. She saw how much pain she was putting her through just by being there, even if just for a moment, because then Wolfa put on her aggressive face, hiding her emotions. But it was too late, she’d seen them. 

“Lonnie, Rogelio and Kyle came for a visit in Bright Moon and told us you were living here alone" Glimmer said. "We came to see if you were okay. Your friends are worried for you, too. They’re still waiting for you to…”

Wolfa snorted. 

“So worried that they sent  _ you  _ here.”

Glimmer stepped forward. 

“No, Wolfa, they knew we would just be faster, we already know this place and…”

“I’m fine. Go away now.”

“Wolfa…”

“Get out!”

“But…”

"No!" she shouted, and she looked half desperate and half angry. “I'm fine here, now please go away and leave me alone"

"None wants to be alone…" Catra tried to say, but Wolfa glowered at her, startling her.

"I do! I’m not you, Catra! I’m fine here, I like this place, so go away” she snarled.

Silence, a gaze the five of them shared. 

"No" Azeria said. "We’re not leaving you here. We care about you, Wolfa."

"I know exactly what you're feeling,” Catra tried again, “I've been there, I know why you’re pushing us away! But I promise, we won’t leave you alone!”

Glimmer made another step towards her.

“We came here for you, whatever you may think of us.” 

“We can be friends, just give us a chance” Bow smiled at her. 

“Give yourself a chance to be happy” Adora added. 

But Wolfa shook her head.

"I can’t be happy." A glance to Catra that made her shiver. She saw herself in her, Adora was right. Maybe that’s why she wanted to help her so much. She didn’t feel guilty for not loving her, it wasn’t something she couldn’t blame herself for, but she did feel bad for her. “Now leave” Wolfa spat. “Go back to your lives. Forget about me, pretend like I’ve never existed. It’s for the best, trust me.”

“You can’t trust a wolf” Azeria said with a smirk. Wolfa raised her ears and wagged her tail hesitantly. 

“Neither a fox” she murmured, and then flattened her ears again. “It’s not visiting day, everybody get out of my tent  _ now _ !” 

None moved a muscle but Azeria, who started roaming around the tent, touching everything.

“It’s quite nice here, you did a good job with the furniture” she commented. It wasn’t a lie, that place wasn’t bad at all, even if everything was made from trash and old bones. 

Wolfa blushed and stammered.

“I… uh...”

Catra saw Glimmer e Bow smirk at each other. 

“It’s getting a bit narrow here, why don’t we take a breath outside?” Bow asked. After an awkward and short silence, everyone moved outside the tent. Wolfa was wiping her hands on her leggings, leaving white marks over the grey fabric. She didn’t look happy to follow them outside. She narrowed her eyes in the dying light of the setting sun.

“You’re well on your way. Now go on and don’t look back, you’ll be in Bright Moon before you realize it.”

“We already told you, Wolfa” Adora approached the former soldier, but she stepped back lowering her ears and so she stopped. “We’re not leaving without you.”

Wolfa showed her teeth. The sun was disappearing quickly behind the spiky profile of the Crimson Waste’s horizon, and the light was really low now.    
“Why?! I’m not one of your friends! Leave me alone, I will be just fine. I don’t need anyone.”

“I know that you hate me…” Adora was saying, but Wolfa wasn’t even looking at her anymore. “But I really want you to…”

Wolfa moved so quickly that Catra realized it only when it was too late. One moment she was just standing there and looking annoyed, and in the blink of an eye she had pounced on Adora, falling with her on the sand and rolling away. There was also a sharp, sibilant sound. Catra realized that a black, thin arrow was sticking out of the ground, right where Adora was standing a moment before. 

  


  


  


  


  


Adora was speechless. She had felt the arrow pass an inch from her stomach while Wolfa was pushing her to the ground. She glanced at it, shocked, checking if Catra was okay in the meantime, but she just looked as shocked as she felt. Wolfa had just saved her life. She stared at her, astounded, as Glimmer’s magical barrier protected them from other arrows. Then Wolfa darted towards the darkness, faster than she thought possible. Azeria followed her. A few seconds later, loud cries filled the air from the dark. 

Bow helped her to stand up, but she turned into She-Ra a moment later. 

“Stay here” she told her friends, and before they could protest she ran and looked for Wolfa and Azeria between the shadows of the night. She had to run, following the yells to find them. They were… incredible. They moved differently, Azeria fluid and silent, Wolfa with a fast brutality and growling, but they were taking down a group of… fifteen? Maybe twenty bandits with an incredible efficiency. Many of them were distracted by her, probably because she was glowing in the dark, and some tried to throw arrows at her (she broke them mid-air with her sword). She watched for one second more Azeria throw knives so quickly that she could only see them reflect her own light in the dark and Wolfa kick and punch the bandits like it was everything she was ever meant to do, then she decided that they had enough fun and used her power, making it explode from the sword like a whip and knocking out all of their enemies. 

Both Wolfa and Azeria turned to look at her in surprise. 

“You could always do that?” Wolfa asked. Adora shrugged, abandoning She-Ra, for now, but keeping the sword to have some light. 

“Yep.”

Wolfa became thoughtful. “Oh.”

She felt a change in the air and then Glimmer appeared with Catra and Bow. They looked around, noticing the motionless bandits all around. Catra gazed at her. 

“You’re going to get bored if you keep doing it.”

Adora grinned.

"Nah, I don’t think I ever will."

  


  


  


  


  


“I thought you hated me.”

Wolfa, sitting on the sand just outside her tent (her new home, how she was forcing herself to call it), glanced up at Adora, who was standing beside her. 

“Catra wouldn't be happy if you’d died.” Adora stayed silent and gazed away, looking at her friends, that were dragging one of the last bandits away from there, with Glimmer’s help. Azeria was there too. She kept meeting her stare. Fighting side to side with her had been… intense. She felt safe, incredibly, like she did with Kara, Tauro and Ophid, as if she knew that she would watch her back, no matter what. She clenched her jaw. She missed them, and she hated it. They didn’t look for her. Those five morons did, though, even if she hurt them (Azeria excluded), even if they knew what she felt for Catra. Adora was still there, trying to talk to her, trying to be her friend. Maybe she could give her a chance. “I do hate you. But just because...” she sighed, making Adora turn abruptly to look at her with her big, bluebell eyes. “I was just jealous.” Adora widened her eyes even more. 

“But all the things you said about me and…”

“We were kids. I hated that you got results and I didn't. But the truth is, I never wanted to be Force Captain. I just wanted to be better than you, which of course is impossible. I can't compete with a… goddess, or whatever you are.”

Adora snorted, blushing, and sat next to her.

“I'm not a goddess!”

“Whatever.” 

They shared a moment of awkward silence, then Adora broke it.

“Were they friends of yours?”

Wolfa scowled. 

“Mpf. I might have messed with them a couple of days ago. They wanted to steal my weapons and food, and they ended up eating the sand. I was expecting them to come and try again, sooner or later.”

Adora frowned. 

“You fought them all alone?”

Wolfa shrugged. 

“They weren’t as many, and they can’t fight. Not like me, at least.”

Silence, again. 

“Anyway… thank you, Wolfa.”

Wolfa turned and stared back at her. 

“Don’t thank me. I did it only for Catra” she managed to say. It was the truth, after all, and the truth was everything that mattered, the only gift she could give to others. She always thought that lying was the most cruel thing one could do to someone. They couldn’t defend from something they couldn’t see, it was like stabbing someone in the back after telling them you loved them. If someone trusts you, the least you can do to give back the favor is telling them the truth to honour that trust. Even if they were your enemy.

“Double thank you, then. She’s everything to me.”

Wolfa glanced away for a moment, that old pain clenching her heart.

“I know” she murmured. “I can see it.” She drew her hand to the back of her neck, scratching the little scars, trying to ignore Adora’s smug smirk.

“You’re starting to like me, aren’t you? 

Wolfa got a little bit nervous and glared at her.

“I hate every single breath you take. But you make Catra happy, and that’s something I can’t do, so I’m ready to do everything I can to keep you alive. Be done with it, because that’s all you’re getting” she said before standing up to distance from her, because she really,  really  hated her, but, even walking away, she noticed the bright smile on Adora’s face. 

Sitting again on the sand, alone, and then laying on it, she wondered why that dumbass cared so much about her opinion of her. Probably just because she cared about anyone’s. Or maybe she thought that her feelings for Catra would fade away if they became friends. Idiot. She would never stop loving her, her heart would never stop bleeding every time she’d see them together. But she couldn’t deny how strong their bond was, how deep was the love she saw in her eyes every time they looked at each other. She would never stop loving Catra, and that’s exactly why she was accepting the truth. She’d always loved the truth, right? The truth made her free. The truth made her realize that she never had anyone in her life. Her parents and her siblings didn’t love her, Kara couldn’t accept the truth (that she’d always love Catra more than her) so she left her, Hordak lied to her too, so he didn’t love her, and so she cut ties with him, Catra would never love her, Adora was Catra’s true and only love so… so she had to let her go, to accept that she was happy now, with somebody else. She felt tears in her eyes, but she kept them there, not letting them fall down her temples, even if those people were far enough not to see it. 

  


  


  


  


  


  


“Do you think we should give her some time?” Glimmer whispered.

Bow kept staring at Wolfa, all alone down there, laying on the sand.

“I don’t know” he replied to her. Then he glanced at Adora. “What did she say?”

Catra turned to look at Adora in turn, noticing so that she was hugging herself, basically. Maybe it was because it was getting cold there. She would have believed it if she had ever seen Adora show any sign of being bothered by a change of temperature. She just looked uncomfortable. 

“Nothing. I mean, she didn’t say that she wanted to be left alone, so we could take it as an invite?”

Catra gazed at the lonely former soldier, wagging her tail nervously. 

“I think we can take the risk.” She touched Adora with her tail as she walked to Wolfa. The girl was staring at the night sky, her tail was still and her ears were lowered. She didn’t move a single muscle when Catra approached.

“Do you mind if I sit here?” 

Wolfa kept looking at the stars that reflected upon her glassy eyes. 

“Sure.” Her voice was fragile, a bit hoarse.

Catra sat there, a few inches from her. She tried gazing up too, but it was quite uncomfortable, so she tried to lie down like her. Bad, bad idea.

“Gah, I’ve got sand everywhere!” she hissed, feeling the unnerving sensation of those little grains grinding against her skin.”How can you stand it?”

Wolfa smirked weakly. 

"I'm not a kitten."

Carta hit her with a punch on her shoulder and she chuckled softly, but never moved her gaze from the sky. 

Slowly, everyone came closer. Adora positioned next to Catra and reached for her hand, Glimmer laid down next to Wolfa with Bow at her side, and Azeria laid specularly to Wolfa, her heads slightly touching; their ears would touch if Wolfa’s weren’t laying flat against her head. 

“Wow. It’s really beautiful” Glimmer said.

“Amazing” Bow smiled.

“So, what do we do? Do we just lay here…?

“Adora!” Glimmer scolded her with a smile in her voice.

“Fine, I’ll be quiet.” Catra caught her starting to play with the sand with her foot and innerly smiled. She also heard Wolfa sigh softly. 

“Wait for it” she said, and everyone tried to look at her. 

“For what?” Catra asked. Wolfa nodded towards the sky and Catra gazed up. There was nothing new there, and she was about to make her notice when a bright, pink star cut the black, leaving behind itself a sparkling white tail of light. There was a general “WOW!”, and Catra herself couldn’t hold back the amazement. 

“What was that?” Azeria asked, her voice weirdly high-pitched.

“I don’t know” Wolfa answered. “Looks like something that flies up there. That runs through the sky.”

“It looked like a star” Glimmer said. 

“Stars don’t move. Look at them.”

They all stayed silent for a while, then Azeria talked again, but her voice was low and sultry as usual. 

“Maybe they are moving, but we can’t see it because we’re moving too, and we’re going in the same direction.”

Silence fell, again. Something about what she said struck Catra in a way that she couldn’t fully understand. She glanced at Wolfa, who was still staring at the stars, her eyes slightly narrowed. The marks she left on her face looked purple with that faint light. But her ears were finally up. Catra smirked and went back to admiring the sky. 

“All with the same speed? It’s unlikely” Wolfa muttered, eventually. 

Out of the corner of her eye, catra saw Azeria pat Wolfa on her ears, that the former soldier immediately lowered. 

“Don’t be such a killjoy, it was poetic!” Azeria laughed. 

“Poetry is weak.”

“Poetry is beautiful, and you should broaden your horizons, cub.”

“Don’t you dare calling me that!”

“I can call you whatever I want.”

Wolfa sighed. Catra was using all of her inner strength to hold back laughter, and also holding Adora’s hand and sharing amused glances with her was helping. She moved to lean her head on her girlfriend’s shoulder, and she couldn’t help but start purring. 

“When are you going to leave, finally?” Wolfa grunted.

“We’re not going to leave without you” Adora said, her voice reverberating through Catra’s whole body. She closed her eyes, relaxing. 

“Yep” Bow agreed. “You’re right, though, it’s beautiful here.”

Catra opened her eyes. 

“Yeah, I considered staying here when I came here with Scorpia.” She felt Adora tense and looked at her, meeting her concerned stare. 

“Do you like it more than Bright Moon?”

Catra had to think about it, for a moment. Did she? Not so much time ago, she would’ve said yes without thinking twice about it. She had had power there, people who liked her and were willing to follow her, her whip and… nothing else. What she had now was so much more. 

“Nah” she smirked. “But I do have a great reputation here.”

Adora grimaced. 

“Bad, you mean.”

“Exactly” she sneered, making them laugh, almost all of them - Wolfa simply smiled, but it was a start.

“You know what I would love? To build a spaceship from scratch!” Bow suddenly exclaimed. A soft laughter ran between all of them. “Just to see if I can do it.”

“All that trouble just to prove yourself you can do it?” Catra snorted, lifting a bit to look at him. He shrugged. 

“Why not?”

“I’d like to learn to cook” Glimmer intervened.

“That’s fine with me!” Adora said with too much enthusiasm, making them laugh again. Then she continued, looking at Catra. “I’m good with what I’ve got. I don’t think I wish for anything else.”

Catra purred again, rubbing her nose against hers. Then she remembered one thing...

“I’d like to have my whip back, now that I think about it!” She laughed together with her friends. Then she gazed at her girlfriend again and caressed her face. “But I’m fine even without it” she whispered to her. Adora gave her that loving stare she couldn’t live without, smiling, and all she could do was kiss those perfect lips. 

“I’d like to fix up my house in Plumeria” Azeria said. “It blew up during the war.”

“If you need help, you only have to ask” Bow said. 

“What about you, Wolfa?” Glimmer asked. “What would you like to do?”

Catra turned to look at her, and realized that she was panicking. Her ears were low, her eyes wide open, she was trying to say something but it was clear that she just didn’t know the answer. Their eyes met, and Wolfa gulped. She looked so lost… Then she looked away, pain showing through clenched fists and narrowed eyes, fixed on the sky again. 

“I… don’t know what I like. I wasn’t trained to think about it.”

Those words hit her like a kick to the teeth. She turned and stared at Adora, thinking that she must have felt exactly that way, before realizing that she loved her. Her eyes were telling her that she wasn’t wrong. 

“Throwing a punch?” Adora tried smiling at the former soldier, but Wolfa didn’t stop gazing up and frowned. 

“I… I don’t know. I can do that, but I don’t know if I like it. I’ve only ever done that.”

“I know how you feel.”

Wolfa stared at Adora in surprise.

“But you…”

“The Horde raised us to be soldiers, what else should we feel? You need another purpose. We go on chasing targets, that’s how we were raised. I found mine. Well, she found me, actually…” Catra welcomed her smirk. 

“Since when are you so sappy?”

But Adora’s stare was intense, burning. 

“Since I realized what I really want.”

Catra basically jumped on her to kiss her, her heart felt like a bomb about to go off. 

“It only took the end of the world,  twice , and that she almost died” Glimmer said, and Catra had to break the kiss to laugh, together with Adora. “So don’t worry” Glimmer plowed on, talking to Wolfa. “If she made it, you can, too.”

“Glimmer!” Adora shouted, but she was laughing. 

“Deny it, if you can!”

Their laughter faded away slowly. The silence fell over them, light and peaceful, but Catra could feel the tension that Wolfa was emanating. She glanced at her in time to see Glimmer grab gently her hand and Wolfa give a start and stiffen.

“Take your time” Glimmer said. “We’re here with you.”

Catra looked away, pretending to gaze at the stars, when she realized that Wolfa was weeping silently. The glance she shared with Adora told her that she wasn’t the only one that had noticed that. But none commented, they just stayed there, giving her the simple and yet powerful comfort of their mere presence. Even Adora was incredibly still and quiet. 

“Looks like you’ll have to endure our company for a long time” Catra smirked. “You’re screwed, wolf-girl.”

“Indeed” Adora smiled. “But, at least, the food is great in Bright Moon.”

“I have my doubts, now that Sparkles will be cooking.”

“Seriously, Catra? If you eat anything, then, I’ll teleport you in the middle of the sea!”

“Don’t you dare!”

Catra was trying to pretend that she didn’t notice, but Wolfa was shaking now, probably in the effort to hold back the sobs. Ah, she knew exactly what she was feeling, but she didn’t think that her reaction could be so intense. She felt like that on Darla, when she sat with them on the floor to eat what Glimmer had cooked. That new, warm, confusing feeling of knowing that you were loved, that those people you used to call enemies actually cared about you and wanted you there with them, sharing with them what you thought you could never have again. It was beautiful and frightening, and it made her feel awkward and happy and scared and guilty at the same time. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Azeria stretch a hand and stroke Wolfa’s hair, and for a moment she feared that she could bite her or leap up and run away, but Wolfa didn’t move.

“Maybe I could teach you to throw knives. It’s kind of fun!”

“Yes” Wolfa muttered. Her voice made it clear that she was crying. 

“And you could teach me to use that staff” Azeria continued cheerfully, as if she didn’t hear the tears in her voice. 

Catra saw Wolfa nod, and a sob escaped from the girl’s control. Azeria sank her hand in her hair.

“Don’t worry, we have plenty of time. I’m very patient, and the sky is beautiful tonight.”

“Really beautiful” Bow commented, and Glimmer hit him with an elbow. “Ouch… what did I say?” he whispered. 

“The stars” Wolfa suddenly said, her voice was still shaking, but it was a bit stronger than before. “I like the stars.”

They all smiled, and stayed there, side by side, waiting for the night to end to go home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo, here we go. This story's over... or not? xD I will add the second part soon because there are things that must still happen (I hope to post the new story next week). Anyway, I just wanted to thank you for reading this story, leaving kudos or a comment. Thank you, thank you, thank you <3\. I hope you liked The Big Bad Wolf :) See you soon! Baci <3


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